Real-Life “Joker” Kills 12 People, Injures Dozens At The Premiere of New Batman Movie “The Dark Knight Rises”

Real-Life “Joker” Kills 12 People, Injures Dozens At The Premiere of New Batman Movie "The Dark Knight Rises"

Fifty nine people were injured and 12 people killed in Aurora, Colo., during a sold-out midnight premier of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" when 24-year-old James Holmes unloaded four weapons' full of ammunition into the unsuspecting crowd.  The number of casualties makes the incident the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Holmes, who has a clean record and is a graduate student at a nearby college, entered the movie auditorium wearing a bullet-proof vest, a ballistics helmet, a gas mask, bullet-proof leggings and gloves. He detonated numerous smoke bombs, and then began firing at viewers inside the theater, police said.

Bullets tore through the theater and into adjoining theaters, where at least one person was hit and injured.  Ten viewers of the "The Dark Knight Rises" were killed in theater instantly, while two others died later at hospitals.  Numerous members of the audiences were in critical condition at six local hospitals, the Aurora police disclosed.

The suspect was apprehended within minutes of the 12:39 a.m. shooting at his car behind the theater, where police found him in full riot gear and carrying three weapons, including a AR-15 assault rifle, which can hold upwards of 100 rounds, a Remington 12 gauge shot gun, and a .40 Glock handgun. A fourth handgun was found in the vehicle.

According to police sources, Holmes told the officers arresting him that he was "The Joker," referring to the villain in the second installment of the Batman movie trilogy, "The Dark Knight." He also warned police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, leading officers to evacuate the Aurora apartment building.

Police Chief Dan Oates said today that police and bomb squads have found a large number of explosive devices and trip wires at Holmes' apartment and have not yet decided how to proceed without setting off explosions.

"The pictures we have from inside the apartment are pretty disturbing considering how elaborate the apartment is booby trapped," police said outside of the apartment complex today. The "flammable and explosive" materials could have blown up Holmes' apartment building home exclusively to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members, and the ones near it, police said.

Witnesses in the movie theater said Holmes saw smoke and heard gunshots that they thought were part of the movie until they saw Holmes standing in front of the screen, after entering from an emergency exit. Holmes shoot people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said.

Holmes, originally of San Diego, moved to Aurora to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado medical center, living in an apartment just blocks away from the hospital.  The suspected shooter will face his first court appearance next week, according to district attorney Carol Chambers.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday July 22 2012, 6:37 AM EDT. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0