People were desperately trying to connect the VA Tech shooter to Islam for months.
Police located the suspected shooter behind the movie theater and took him into custody. Police have identified him as James Holmes, reportedly in his early 20s.
Inside the alleged gunman’s car, officers found a gas mask and several firearms. According to CBS, one of the weapons was an AK-47 assault rifle.
Aurora police also found explosives inside the suspect’s home.
Authorities remain on scene at the movie theater, where 10 bodies remain inside the crime scene.
The shooting is the worst mass shooting since the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, which left 32 dead. Hundreds of officers and deputies from every Denver-area police and sheriff’s department, as well as the FBI, are assisting.
President Obama was informed of the shooting at 5:26 a.m. EST. Expressing shock and sadness, he has promised his administration will do everything they can for the city. Read his statement here
Aurora police say victims were transported to at least six area hospitals, including six victims taken to the Children’s Hospital. Family members can call 720-848-2626 to check if their loved ones are being treated at a hospital.
The Century 16 movie theater is located next to the Town Center in Aurora, near I-225 and Alameda.
Details are still coming in. KKTV is sending two crews to the scene right now. Watch KKTV 11 News This Morning for the latest information.
*Editor’s Note: We originally reported 14 dead because that was the number given to us by the Aurora Police Department. Authorities have since reduced the number confirmed to 12, and 11 News has made the appropriate changes.
http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Several_Shot_Inside_Aurora_Movie_Theater_163148296.html
Personally I hate when people jump to rash conclusions in the first few hours after something like this happens and this is why I try to withhold making rash conclusions and wait to see what comes out.
The same sort of thing happens whenever there is a train derailment, industrial explosion, car running into a crowd, a random shooting by some lone psycho; unfortunately some immediately knee jerk that it must have been a Muslim terrorist or an illegal and when it comes out that is wasn’t, some even seem disappointed. It’s almost as if some people are looking for the next 9-11 and are disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Quite frankly this sort of thing makes conservatives look bad. OTOH, the knee jerk reactions from the left and from the pop psychologists are just as bad.
At the end of the day, the families of the people who died or those who are seriously injured and their families probably don’t care one wit whether it was some lone nut or a “terrorist”. Motivation, politics, race, mental illness, drug use, religion…at the end of the day it probably doesn’t matter much to the dead, injured, traumatized and their families.