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.
Have you ever had a gun pointed at you? I have. It's not exactly a moment of clarity. It's something you really can't be trained for. How can you be so certain that some random person with a CCW would have reacted properly? How can you be so certain they wouldn't have shot other innocent bystanders? @Steve You clearly know very little about the National Guard. They have units just like any other military organization who are trained to do specific jobs. You make out like every cook in the National Guard is riot trained and that is simply not true. P.S. You still haven't answered me.
Are people forgetting Flight 93 that crashed on 9/11 near Shanksville? They risked and lost their lives to save others.
For someone that doesn't want to compare service records you were certainly ready and willing to try and take a stab at mine. No, I wasn't a cook. I was a 4404 Combat Medic in the 10th Regiment where I served on the Advance Party for Romeo Battery. I'm quite capable of reading and digesting what I took in, but the issue here isn't my service record, my reading comprehension abilities or you trying to deflect and not answer my questions. The issue in this particular comment is that you seem to believe that a random person with a gun in a room full of tear gas and confusion would have somehow helped the situation rather than made it worse. As for pointless. This argument is entirely the definition of pointless. It is the result of a Gung Ho gun owner suggesting that more small arms fire in the midst of chaos would somehow have made things better rather than worse. I can see from your stubborn refusal to accept or address the facts of the situation that continued conversation with you on this point is going to be fruitless. I can only hope that someone else has the words which will convince you to examine the situation from a logical point of view rather than a Dirty Harry point of view.
The NRA are hoping for a short term memory about this tragic event. If people don't get off their couches and vote out the lover of guns, we'll have more of the same for years to come. We, as a society, need to really DO something in order for anything to change. My condolences to all the victims and families. From one wacked person after another, going on killing sprees,we NEED REFORM!
Just yesterday, a deleted comment of yours on this very article included, word for word, the following "Very sad. And Tom, what does Politics have to do with this?".
But we as a society, in order to keep these type of war like weapons out of the hands of citizens,need reform, don't ya think? We can only hope that when you or a family member goes out of the house, they will come back safe. The NRA are for limitless use and availability and the GOP back them,with a vengeance. Why would anyone in their right mind push for guns,war type weapons? A citizen has the right to bear arms but this is taken out of context to the extreme. A CCW holder is trained but it's the wackos who go on a rampage,as is very evident with all the mass murderers lately. Oh...LYN, thanks for having your spy glass out...to remember my deleted post word for word......really now!
However, I do agree with most of what you said!
The problem with posting, it's hard to relay the spirit in which the words are intended. Enjoy the evening. =>}
The tragedy had nothing to do with politics. I believe it does have a lot to do with the availability of weapons that get into the hands of wackos. In order to reform the laws we have to bring politics into play. Stopping access of dangerous weapons is the message.
There are already hundreds of gun laws, laws against murder, theft, etc... Laws do not stop the lawless. There are evil people in this world. It is sad, but true. If someone is hell bent on killing someone, or many, they will find a way to try even if the assault weapon was never invented.