12 Dead in Colorado movie theater shooting

[apples]

Theater 'gunman' makes first court appearance, has reddish orange hair

     CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The Colorado movie theater shooting suspect is making his first court appearance with reddish orange hair.

James Holmes was wide-eyed and unshaven as he sat staring down.

He appeared Monday after being accused of the shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people and injured 58 others.

Authorities say the 24-year-old former graduate student is refusing to cooperate and it could take months to learn what prompted the horrific attack on moviegoers at a midnight screening of the latest Batman film.

Investigators say they found a Batman mask inside Holmes' booby-trapped apartment after the attack.

Holmes has been held in solitary confinement since Friday. Prosecutors say they may consider the death penalty but will make that decision after consulting with victim's families.

Prosecutors will have 72 hours from the hearing to formally charge the 24-year-old Aurora resident originally from California.

Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers said Monday her office is considering pursuing the death penalty against Holmes. She said a decision will be made in consultation with victims' families.

Holmes has been assigned a public defender, and Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said the former doctoral student has "lawyered up" since his arrest early Friday, following the shooting at an Aurora theater that left 12 dead and 58 wounded, some critically.

"He's not talking to us," the chief said.

Holmes has been held without bond at the lockup in Centennial, Colo., south of Denver and about 13 miles from the Aurora theater.

His hearing is at the same complex, and security there was tight early Monday. Uniformed sheriff's deputies were stationed outside, and deputies were positioned on the roofs of both

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/colo_massacre_suspect_mum_as_he_u7cmDKWFZ3fckw36trd9II#ixzz21SfRMxHp


                               

OK now I understand the "considering" death penalty..they are talking with the victims family's.

[apples]

JUDGE SEALS 'BATMAN' SHOOTING CASE

An Arapahoe County Court judge has granted a request to seal the case against James Holmes, the 24-year-old shooter who killed 12 and wounded 50 during a screening last night of "The Dark Knight Rises."

The motion, filed in Arapahoe County court, asks for the records in the case to be sealed, including search warrants, affidavits, orders and the "case file."

The District Attorney's affidavit says prosecutors are investigating first-degree murder charges against Holmes, but that disclosure of the court records would be "contrary to public interest" and "could jeopardize the ongoing investigation."
                   

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/07/20/web-news-batman-shooter-sealed/

[apples]

Colo. school investigating suspect's deliveries

AP) Colo. school investigating suspect's deliveries
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL and MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press
AURORA, Colo.

The University of Colorado says it's investigating whether shooting suspect James Holmes used his position as a graduate student to order materials in the potentially deadly booby traps that police say they found in his apartment.
Police say Holmes received deliveries over four months to his home and school. They haven't identified the contents.

University spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery says Sunday the school is looking into those packages received at the school.                     

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/07/22/Colo-school-investigating-suspects-deliveries

[Stan In FL]

If this isn't a capital crime, then they need to repeal the law and quit the pretense.

OK now I understand the "considering" death penalty..they are talking with the victims family's.

[apples]

Colorado massacre gunman entered theater ready to kill even more, source says

Other details, according to the source:

-- At some point, the gunman transitioned to his other weapons, a .40 Glock pistol and a .223 Smith & Wesson M&P semi-automatic.

-- The shooter had purchased an after-market high-capacity drum clip for the semi-automatic, the source said. Although it gave him the capacity to fire perhaps 100 rounds, it was of inferior quality and might be the reason the shooter's gun jammed. Authorities found live .223 ammunition on the theater floor, possibly resulting from him yanking off the drum to try to clear the jam, or possibly from a "catastrophic failure" of the drum's feed mechanism.

-- The .223 rounds he was firing were armor-piercing.

-- After the gun jammed, the gunman walked out of the theater through the door he'd entered and was removing his body armor beside his car when he was confronted by the officers who took him down, the source said, adding that the gunman seemed surprised authorities arrived so quickly.

-- The gunman's apartment was booby-trapped, and authorities are considering a theory that he intended the apartment to blow first to create a diversion that would occupy police and rescue personnel several miles away from the theater, the source said.

A photo of the interior of the suspect's apartment reviewed by Fox News showed what appeared to be small, dark balls, looking like small bowling balls, placed across the floor, evenly spaced like chess pieces. Wires criss-crossed above them in what looked like a grid, with a glass beaker of liquid visible along with what appeared to be a five-gallon gas can.

Fox News has learned that the door was wired with a booby-trap and a backup system that would have triggered an explosive designed to "cut in half" the first person through the door. After that, explosions and flames would have likely consumed the entire building, presumably with the intention of trapping other residents as they slept and forcing a massive response of police and rescue personnel.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/23/colorado-massacre-gunman-entered-theater-ready-to-kill-even-more-source-says/#ixzz21YTL9FTd

[apples]

US shooter 'was psychiatric patient'

  The suspected Batman massacre gunman was seeing a psychiatrist specialising in schizophrenia before the attack that killed 12 in Colorado, court documents show.

The motion named Dr Lynn Fenton as defence lawyers sought to gain access to a package James Holmes had mailed to her prior the July 20 mass shooting, which also wounded 58 people.

Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Holmes - who recently dropped out of the University of Colorado - had sent a notebook to a university psychiatrist that included details and drawing of his plans to kill people.

There were conflicting reports about whether the package reached the school in time to potentially prevent the massacre, but officials remained tight-lipped due to a strict gag order imposed by the judge overseeing the case.

Judge William Sylvester unsealed some court filings on Friday after defence lawyers argued that Holmes' constitutional rights had been violated by the "breach of confidentiality and privilege" and sought "sanctions for this misconduct".

In a preview of likely battles to come, the defence lawyers also argued that the contents of the package should not be used as evidence because "Mr Holmes was a psychiatric patient of Dr Fenton, and his communications with her are protected".

Fenton teaches at the University of Colorado's medical school and heads student mental health services there in addition to conducting research into schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

Prosecutors rebuffed the defence motion, arguing that news stories about the package contained significant factual errors and that there was no evidence the government was responsible for the leaks.

They also indicated that a FoxNews.com report that the package contained a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" was incorrect.

Reports that the police "are currently examining the contents of the box" are "untrue, as the contents were secured and not examined," prosecutors said.

Holmes, who was studying neuroscience in a doctoral program at the University of Colorado, Denver is expected to be formally charged at his next court hearing on Monday.

Sylvester ordered a hearing on the defence motions also be held on that day.

The alleged gunman gained access to the movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado outside Denver via a fire exit shortly after the screening of The Dark Knight Rises began and threw two canisters of noxious gas into the auditorium, witnesses said.

After firing one round directly into the air with a pump-action shotgun, he began shooting people at random with a military-style assault rifle capable of firing 50 to 60 rounds a minute.

Authorities say Holmes - who had dyed his hair a reddish orange - claimed he was The Joker, Batman's sworn enemy in the comic book series that inspired director Christopher Nolan's film trilogy, which features British-born actor Christian Bale as "the caped crusader".

He gave himself up outside the cinema, still clad in the body armour witnesses described the gunman wearing.

Authorities said Holmes booby-trapped his apartment with the aim of killing anyone who went outside                   

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8506943/colorado-shooter-was-seeing-psychiatrist

[Stan In FL]

we don't need gun control.  we need nutcase control.  we are too afraid of seeming "harsh" to toss the looneys into the booby hatch where they belong.  we saw it at VT, we see it here, and we probably saw it at ft. hood.