A mass shooting at “The Dark Night Rises” midnight screening in Colorado spearheaded by an armed 24-year-old man, killed at least 12 people and injured at least 38.
The horror…
While Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Christian Bale were preparing to celebrate their roles as the sexy Catwoman and other brooding male characters in their new movie’s red carpet premiere in Paris, some of their fans lost their lives in America.
A disturbed man named James Holmes went on an unexplainable shooting rampage at a local screening for summer’s highly-anticipated conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman film franchise held in Colorado.
Clad in a riot helmet, an all-black ensemble, a bullet-proof vest and several guns, the 24-year-old red-haired Colorado University graduate started attacking random people at the theater with his weapons, including a tear gas—killing 10 people at the scene, another 2 after being rushed to the hospital and injuring at least 38 others.
According to Radar Online, Aurora police chief Dan Oates revealed:
“Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire.”
A witness also revealed that many didn’t think anything was wrong—in fact, they thought it was a publicity stunt for the movie. Christ Jones recalled to ABC’s Denver affiliate, KMGH:
“We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant.”
He added:
“I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two.”
The moviegoers started panicking when some of the bullets went through the walls and into the theater. A man, who talked to a couple inside the theater, shared to ABC News:
“They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people.”
According to the insider, the couple also recalled:
“The gunshot continued to go on and on and then after we didn’t hear anything. We finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere.”
Soon after, cops, ambulances and the FBI arrived at the hellish scene and Holmes, who was also found to be wearing a gas mask and had a rifle and handgun on him, was arrested near a car outside the theater.
Authorities reveal that Holmes hid another gun inside the theater and inside his car. And as part of their investigation, officials have started searching Holmes’s unit and found it to have explosives and possibly some booby traps.
His family and reveal that he moved from San Diego to Southern California to pursue a PHD in Colorado. And as if that fact wasn’t shocking enough, his mother admitted that she wasn’t surprised about what her son had done.
As for “The Dark Night Rises” actors, who were in Paris for the film’s scheduled red carpet premiere at the Champs-Elysees on Friday night, will have to return their gowns and suits as the French premiere and all interviews regarding the tragedy has been cancelled.
Oh, did we say that the gunman didn’t resist arrest but did have a few words upon being approached by the angry cops? According to The Hollywood Gossip, Holmes‘ words were:
“I’m the Joker.”
Clearly, the man is disturbed.
What do you think of this shocking turn of events?
Photo Via “The Dark Knight Rises” Movie Poster
We'd love to hear your comment but please don't spam, we reserve the right to delete anything which is inappropriate
