A Nation Reacts To The Colorado Shootings

A nation is stunned after a heavily armed man entered a movie theater in Aurora, CO, early Friday and opened fire.

He killed at least 12 people and injured 50 others, including a 3-month-old child who was shot.

The attack occurred during midnight screenings of the new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

The shooter, who police identified as James Holmes, also used a smoke or tear bomb to stun the audience before he started firing. Witnesses described scenes of pandemonium and chaos in the theater. Many in the theater did not realize what was happening even as the gunfire began.

Holmes, 24, was arrested soon after the melee. He is in police custody and the FBI says there is no indication that incident is tied to any terrorist groups.

The police originally announced that 14 people had been killed in the attack but revised the death toll earlier this morning.

Many across the country and globe are stunned by the mass shooting.

Both President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney have expressed their horror over the tragedy and their sadness for the victims.

"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors," Obama said, according to the Associated Press.

A Northeast Ohio cinema said it is taking extra precautions in the wake of the shootings. 

Some police departments, , are concerned about copycats and have reacted by increasing security around movie theaters.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued the following statement Friday morning:

"As a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado, the New York City Police Department is providing coverage at theaters where the 'The Dark Knight Rises' is playing in the five boroughs."

Meanwhile, people from across the country try to come to terms with the tragedy. , a local editor for Urbandale Patch, writes:

Will I ever feel safe in a movie theater again?

Sadly, I think we'll be horrified for a few days. Movie theaters will tighten security. Perhaps we'll have to go through metal detectors to get into them, as we do at airports. And we'll accept this as a fact of modern life.

I flew after 9-11. I sent my children to school after the Columbine school shootings -- .

She then muses if these examples of extreme gun violence will ever come to an end.