DENVER, Colorado - A masked gunman killed 14 people and wounded 50 others when he opened fire on moviegoers at a showing of new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in the U.S. city of Denver in the early hours of Friday, police said.
Denver's KOA radio station said a figure in a gas mask had opened fire at the showing in a mall in the suburb of Aurora and set off a smoke or tear gas bomb before shooting erupted.
“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference, adding that a suspect was in custody and that there was no evidence of a second gunman.
Oates said 10 people were killed at the scene and another four died later at local hospitals.
He said the suspect had claimed to have explosives at his residence and that the apartment complex where he lived had been evacuated and was being searched.
Police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN the suspect was in his 20s, wearing body armor and armed with a rifle and two handguns. He added that the gunman had set off some kind of smoke device in order to sow panic.
Witnesses described chaos chillingly similar to that depicted in the Batman films -- in which maniacal villains terrorize Gotham City -- suggesting the movie could have inspired the shooting spree.
They said several audience members had shown up in costumes, which could have allowed the gunman to blend in with the melee and complicated the arrest.
Police did not provide details about the killed and wounded, but the PG-13 film would have attracted scores of teenagers.
Random firing and explosions
One witness cited by the Denver Post said he was watching the film when he heard a series of explosions. Benjamin Fernandez, 30, said people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as officers shouted "Get down!"
Another witness described how, during one of the action scenes, there was gunfire and what sounded like firecrackers, but people thought it was coming from the movie.
"So we just kept watching the movie for a little bit," the witness, identified only as Jack, told ABC television. Then it became clear that there was a real gunman in the theater.
"Everyone started panicking after that, because people were getting hurt," he said.
CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a "guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people." Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion.
"We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out," one witness told CNN.
"As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming." He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask.
One man told the NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theatre filled with thick, choking smoke.
He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded: "I heard moaning...they were in pain."
Columbine remembered
President Barack Obama, who was notified of the shooting on Friday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to "stand together" with the people of Aurora in the hours and days to come.
"Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time," Obama said in a statement.
"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family," he added.
Colorado has suffered mass killings in the past. In 1999, two students opened fire at Columbine High School in the suburb of Littleton, near Denver, killing 12 students and a teacher. – AFP & Reuters
source: gmanetwork.com
