AURORA, Colo. -- Fourteen people were killed and up to 50 others wounded after a gunman opened fire at a midnight showing of the "The Dark Knight Rises" at a mall outside of Denver.
A 24-year-old suspect is in custody and a SWAT team had surrounded his apartment building amid reports it was packed with explosives, police said.
The suspect walked into the movie theater in Aurora minutes after the movie started, released a cannister that might have emitted tear gas and opened fire, authorities said.
“Everybody thought it was fireworks,” theatergoer Chris Jones told Denver’s local ABC affiliate. “When the shooting cleared, we just ran. When we got outside, it was chaos.”
Ten people were found dead at the scene. Four died at local hospitals.
At least six victims were rushed to the Children’s Hospital in Aurora, including a 6-year-old with a bullet wound.
“This is a horrific event,” Aurora police chief Dan Oates said at a press conference early Friday morning.
Oates said the black-clad gunman had a gas mask and was arrested in the back of the movie theater.
The suspect was carrying a rifle and a handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest. A third gun was found inside the theater, CNN reported.
Witness Salina Jordan, 19, told the Denver Post she saw one girl struck in the cheek and others in the stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old.
Jordan said she thought the popping sounds were firecrackers until someone ran into the theater yelling “they're shooting out here!”
Another witness told local TV the shooting broke out in the theater at the same time bullets were flying on screen.
“There was a shooting scene in the movie, at the same time, there was a gun shot, a real one,” the witness said.
The rampage left witnesses posting frantic messages on Twitter.
“Shots fired in the theater. #batman #aurora #colorado,” wrote one witness. “It was my theater. I’m outside. One of my friends is still inside. No one knows what’s going on.”
Witnesses have been taken to an area high school and the FBI has been called in to assist with the investigation.
Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he was inside the theater and heard several shots. He told the station that at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving the theater.”
I hope everyone will be alright. That is just wrong, how dare that man go to a theatre and open fire on innocent movie goers. I cannot believe I have to share a planet with idiots like these.
