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Subscribe to RSSWitnesses of Friday's deadly Colorado movie theater shootings describe what they saw.
Survivors of the Colorado movie theater shooting massacre say they initially thought the man dressed in black who entered through an emergency exit door was part of the premier of the new Batman movie.
"I thought it was a joke or part of the show," survivor Jennifer Seeger told TODAY. "He came in and threw in the gas can, and then I knew it was real."
The gunman shot and killed 12 people and wounded dozens more at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., about 20 minutes into the movie. A man identified as James Eagan Holmes has been arrested in the case.
Seeger, 22, said she was sitting in the second row of the theater, and the shooting suspect was about five feet away from her when he entered.
Another survivor, Tanner Coon, 17, said he was at the showing with a friend and the friend’s 10-year-old brother, sitting in the fourth row from the back of the theater.
“I saw a tear gas can fly over the audience,” he said. “There was a loud bang and I saw a flash, and I just thought maybe fireworks, you know, people do that kind of stuff at midnight premiers, but I heard more flashes and I instantly knew those were gunshots.”
Another survivor, Corbin Dates, said he was inside the theater when the shooting started. He described the masked gunman, saying he first thought the shooting was “a stunt” for the movie.
“I thought it was for a thrill,” he said, “but then people are really, really screaming.”
After the suspect threw the gas cans in the air, Seeger said, he fired a shot toward the ceiling. She described the ensuing 20 minutes as “pure mass chaos” as the suspect turned his guns on the audience.
“He pointed the gun right at me," Seeger said. "I got terrified. I didn’t know what to do like a deer in headlights. At that point, I dove into the aisle, and curled up into a little ball and waited for him to go away. I got lucky because he didn't shoot me."
"But then he started to shoot people behind me, and the bullets started falling on my head," she said. "It was like burning my head because it was so fresh. I could smell gun powder."
At that point, Seeger said, she tried to think of an escape route.
"I was crawling, and I told my friend, I said, 'Once he gets up there, he goes up to the stairs, we’ve got to get out of here, we’ve got to get out of here,'" she said. "So we start crawling, we start crawling and everybody’s going for the door, and then everybody starts coming back in, they’re saying, ‘No, he’s going to shoot the people trying to get out of the door, and he did.'"
A surviving victim of the shooting, Virginia Beach native Marcus Weaver, told NBC affiliate WAVY.com in Portsmouth, Va., that when shots finally stopped long enough to make a run for it, the theater became "frantic."
Marcus Weaver holds up a bloodied shirt after he was injured during the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting, Friday, July 20, 2012.
Profile of the shooting suspect
12 shot dead at 'Dark Night Rises' screening
"When I was jumping over the seats to get to the exit, there were people trampling over people who were lying on the ground," Weaver said from his hospital bed in Aurora, Colo. "It was just the most horrific scene I have ever seen."
Weaver said he suffered two gunshot wounds to his right shoulder. He was treated on the scene and taken to the hospital. He was released Friday morning.
Meanwhile, trapped inside the panicking theater, Seeger said, the gas began to take effect.
"I was coughing, my eyes were tearing up," she said. "I was just scared and my adrenaline pumped in and I tried to get out. It felt like forever.”
"They said, 'This guy's coming back, he's going to shoot you, he's going to shoot you,'" she said. "So I just ran as an instinct."
Seeger said she remembered seeing a number of children in the audience as she fled the theater, including a 6-year-old who was shot and killed on the scene.
“I was trying to escape and there was a little girl, like 12 or 14, just laying lifeless on the stairs,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. I was just completely distraught. There were dead bodies everywhere, there were people hurt everywhere, there was blood and guts everywhere.”
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Leave a Comment:
This is why we should be able to concell carrie anywhere! the cops cain't pertect you when this happens, If someone in there had a gun maybe they could have brought a fast end to this, MAYBE
No matter what they'd have reduced the attention the gunman was able to give to shooting innocent victims. He didn't have very good aim if you consider the death toll versus the time he had to shoot at people. I'd put my money on a solid shooter or vet with a handgun over this guy, he was just "lucky" he wasn't bum rushed by the crowd. That was how the Midnight Stalker was caught in California years ago, the sheriffs had all they could do to stop the crowd from killing him on the spot.
What, where was the hero NRA member with a CC permit? The tragedy is that every person in that theater wasn't armed, right?
Trying to imagine the chaos if every person in the theater had been armed. Everyone reaches for their guns, identifies the correct suspect in a dark, smoke-filled room, and fires one perfect shot, never getting jostled by anyone panicking, never mis-identifying the shooter as someone else (even though there are 100 other armed people who have all drawn down as well), and fully confident that the gunman is acting alone and doesn't have an accomplice in the theater who is drawing his own pistol to deliver a love letter to the would-be vigilantes.....
So explain how the chaos could be any worse in that theater? Not every person is going to be armed but there have been many other instance across the country where the shooter probably wouldn't have killed as many if any people if the citizens had been armed.
The shooting in Killeen is perfect example....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby's_massacre
....and is the reason CHLs are now allowed in Texas.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/jul/20/71-year-old-florida-shoots-teenagers-video
Mike the Red, this guy had a permit and look what happen
The theatre had a "no guns" policy including CCWs. Most of us NRA members were watching the movie elsewhere. I was up in Thornton, when I left the police were all over outside and they did check my ID etc since I was carrying my 10mm openly (too hot to bother wearing a coat). I'll also give props to Thornton police, they were courteous and professional all while I am sure they were very apprehensive with the news of what had happened in Aurora.
Notably, our movie viewing passed by peacefully despite myself and other CCW holders all having weapons there.
Did I read where this guy has 2 roommates? If so, where the hell are they?
Probably praying and/or changing their underwear from when the cops showed up at 3 AM and evacuated the entire building, since the "suspect" told them he had rigged his apartment with explosives.
(gun) violence isn't quite so entertaining when it's real
But didn't you see when Bruce Willis shot through his own shoulder to kill the bad guy in "Die Hard With A Vengeance"? That was WAY cool.
When good guys shoot guns, it's totally consequence-free.
Anybody want to start a pool on when Jennifer Seeger will make a joint appearance with Gloria Allred?
How many more times are we going to have to suffer through this same old tragic type of incident, before we wake up and realize that, under the present circumstances, we are totally defenseless against these lunatics? Americans are like sheep. They will willingly allow themselves to be slaughtered by some deranged nut.
All law-abiding Americans have the inalienable Constitutional right to bear arms, but the idiot left-wingers have been trying to violate our rights for years, by grabbing our guns and making us even more vulnerable. They have brainwashed our kids in the government-run public schools. Consequently, many average Americans have an aversion to guns. They will not defend themselves! They will simply sit and cry over their friends and loved ones, and do nothing about it. This is very sad.
You would think that after Columbine, the citizens of the Denver area would have done something by now, to prevent this sort of thing from ever happening again. They should have classes in school, to teach the kids how to safely use guns. Every school should have a gun range and give the kids credits for learning how to handle, load and shoot various types of weapons. They automatically get this training when they join the Military. I have been there, done that and it didn't hurt a bit! This knowledge may save your life one day. There should be several people carrying guns at all times. If five, or six people in that theater had been carrying guns, they could have stopped this nut in his tracks. The same thing would have applied at Columbine. Just look at all the precious lives that could have been saved!
My best advice is to learn how to use firearms and keep a loaded gun with you at all times! Your life depends on it. I carry a little Baretta Tom-Cat .32 caliber semi automatic. It will fit in your pocket, or purse. It is a 9 shot weapon. It is very safe to carry, I will never be killed in a massacre like the ones in Denver! I will shoot back! If these lunatics knew someone would shoot back at them, they would never plan these killings!
Burnie12345
"You would think that after Columbine, the citizens of the Denver area would have done something by now, to prevent this sort of thing from ever happening again."
Well Burnie, being that he is from San Diego, OH YEAH, we just KNEW that a guy was going to come out, dressed in full battle gear, to take the lives of innocent people who wanted to see the new Batman movie!
You would THINK that ever since Columbine their would be NO MORE SHOOTINGS in ANY of the states! But that's just it, WE DON'T KNOW, do you know? IF you do, I will give you my email address and PLEASE, PLEASE let me know when a shooting is going to take place that way I can hide in fear in my own home and not enjoy my life!
Either you are totally deranged or you are a total Neanderthal. I can see that the NRA didn't waste their advice on you.
The fact that you carry a gun must make you feel like a real man, especially when any of these nuts will give you prior notice that he is going to shoot you. In all of these massacres nobody knew what was going on, and in a theater, in the dark, when all of a sudden this SOB starts shooting, you could have said: "wait a second until I draw my gun, because shooting me in the back without prior notice is not cool."
Every school with a gun range?
All of you are a very sick bunch of paranoid gun lovers.
"The fact that you carry a gun must make you feel like a real man..."
No it doesn't and I carry as well. It just make me double sure I don't assist people like you who are being shot at by a mugger.
not that it matters cause he was on a mission, this says he entered an emergency exit door. i thought those doors couldnt be opened from the outside to prevent sneaking in. why was it either a) unlocked or b) opens from the outside. thats what scary to me, not only that there are people like this in the world but that it always seems to go so smooth for them, no slipups, no obstacles.
The killer apparently was in the theater, left early on through the emergency exit, then re-entered a few minutes later, armed to the teeth.
Killing is for the fearful.
Insanity is in our society as we allow it . This person was acting out some of cruelty of others against him .
If you get the batman scene it is about some crazy rich guy giving a hoot about the corruption all around him. This is so contrary to the real world . Rich people care only about maintaining their richness at the expense of others and in their interest to grow more rich. This is called American arrogance sometime called by the rich America Capitalism or American Exceptional-ism , the word exceptional ism ,is their payment for being rich or exceptional . So , in the context of movie , the movie is a lie in terms of reality.
Say , you find the crazy person that did this ? What are you going to do ? Lock him or her up till they become sane and the execute them . We allready realize if we execute the insane , we prove nothing other than to prove there are elements within the individual and this co oo society that will produce insanity . This killing or murder is a spoof on Batman and society = our society . In the real world , the ultra rich are protected by body guards . This is true of the rich of most of the nations of the world . The idea that there are batmans is really an exercise in mental manipulation of the real world .
The idea that a Romney or a Obama give a spiritual flip about any of this despite their pretence is a joke . In these day the dishonest make up words to change disguise their dishonesty . E.g. " entitlement . The word entitlement is a contract , a vow , to discharge an obligation . Now if the real word or meaning of "entitlement " or contract was used then every time the perverts who use the word entitlement , would be saying contract to be correct . If the said we want to break the contract or cut back on the contract we have with the elderly and disabled , or break the contract , what happens ?? Since the WHO of society is based upon withholding and keeping contracts sometimes called a " convenant " as in the Bible, then sin is upon those wanting to break this contract for their purposes . All of society would end if the laws of contracts are voided by corrupt political creatures representing other who are so privileged to call themselves , exceptional, so they get fair contracts and the rest of us get cheated .
The point being made is we live a world of criminal manipulation . Why sould we not expect individuals to act in murder when there is a deliberate manipulation of the minds of individual toward evil and perverseness . There is no penality for perversely telling the entire of the United States people we have to break our contract with the Elderly and the disable so rich people can have a tax cut . Etc . This kind of statement would be cause for Revolution as it was in 1776 for a rich England King who wanted to tax product before they were sold , and a nations saying lets kill this un entitled King and his thieves , who took that which he did not earn . While , the killing was a tragedy , there are too many factors of delibeate sins and falseness and wickedness that to expect sanity all the time is insane.
I have looked at all the comments on this page, and though I may agree with some in part I am not sure I agree with any one as a whole. My question is this... with all of the technology our government has amassed from the trillions of tax dollars that are misappropriated by both sides of the fence, how is it still possible for someone like this to fly under the radar with this much dangerous artillery undetected?
Ummm... perhaps it would be better to ask what technology precisely is supposed to prevent this? It's legal to own four guns. Lots of people do.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release July 20, 2012
HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE TRAGEDY IN AURORA, COLORADO
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colorado, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, July 25, 2012. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA
Where is this type of order from Obama for this?
http://globalgrind.com/news/chicagoland-5-murdered-12-wounded-chi-town-details
....or has it become so routine in HIS home city that it's not that important?
We are doomed to repeat history.......SAD
Maybe it's time to stop the violent movies and tv shows. That is all we see and the kids are growing up with it thinking it is ok. Guess we are going to have to get the politicians on board with this whether we like it or not. According to one story, the shooter defines himself with the violent parts of movies. Too many psychopaths showing up in our society and something needs to be done. No more wrist slapping by judges, please!
Interesting choice of crime scene
Prayers too all the victims of this senseless crime that was created by the same people that made the first two sequels.
Unfortunately, it was long overdue. Batman 1 and 2 primed this idiot. Hopefully the survivors can sue the producers of this garbage and put them on the street where they belong at midnight, in east LA. Let the real world teach them a lesson. Then put them in prison for long time with Bubba and Julio. No limos and red carpets there.
Batman the Dark Knight? Jesus why would you go to the first movie in this sick series anyway? I guees it was so Hollywierd could make two more even sicker sequels laced with more incredibly real violence. The name says it all.
The fact of the matter is now in our society life immitates art and art immitates life. Stop making violent movies and video games and crazy people like this idiot will stop immitating them. When I was a child, watching Batman and Robin, I do not recall any of the special effect killings. As a matter fact there was not a single one. Maybe Hollywierd and all the sick drugstore pretend actors and musicians, producers and leeches should ponder a lifestyle change and stop hiding behind freedom of speach. This is not freedome of speach. Send them down to live with Chavez or Evo if they want a lesson in that.
Gee who made the best cash floating in the air, plastic anus award winning big breasted violent gansta music video lately? Our society actually compensates idiots like Madonna holding a gun to her head or Cris Brown made up to be a tough guy with body paint. They are pretend drugstore cowboys. Punch them in the nose once in real life and their all done curlled up in ball screeming for their attorneys, and then, their mothers. Stop handing money to bad examples and you will be left with good examples. Not that hard to understand.
Why were these poor folks treated to a midnight screening? Duh, bad things happen after midnight. Anyone that lived this long anywhere can tell you that. Gee I got into a bar fight last night. What time was it? 12:02 am. Why were their children among them? Duh, their parents let them go to a midnight movie. What happened to matinees? Those were for children. Batman the Dark Knight is not for children. Their was even a baby killed. What sort of sick perverted parent takes a baby to see Batman the Dark Knight at 12AM? Maybe Darwin was right after all.
The heroes in your kids life are in the posters on their bedroom walls. Parents take a look see. But only if you care.
"This is not freedome of speach."
Making a movie isn't freedom of speech?!?!?!?!?!? Since when? And what evidence do you have that suggests that violence is essentially a product of media consumption? That seems like a very debatable claim, but you present it as if it were obvious.
But I agree with your last point. You are absolutely correct: only a moron with a death wish would ever leave their home after midnight.
For all who say all guns should be illegal...Even if guns are, criminals will continue to have them and use them, I have carried a .40 for me entire adult life, never once have i thought about using it to commit a crime. The gun saved my life from a car thief who had an Unregisterd handgun. People who do these things are going to find the tools to do them illegal or not. One trained person with a handgun could have saved lives. By no means am i saying that everyone should be able to carry everywhere, but just to think about it. 12 peoople died in this tragedy. There were service men who have been trained at this premiere, and i personnaly dont think that if they were carrying that they would have let this happen, like i said i carry and have no problem protecting my family even if that means taking the life of someone else. And to those who say that him being kept alive saved more people because of the explosives in his house, the investigation whould have taken the police to his house in the first place.
I pray for the victims of this tragedy.
I don't want to pay for a hearing, I don't want to pay for a
night in jail, I don't want to hear what he has to say, I don't want to pay for
his defense, I don't want to feed him in jail, I don't want to pay to finish
his college, I don't want to invest one single solitary dime in this waist of
human flesh. March him out to the town
square and announce he is available. Send a message to anyone else that wants to get stoned and screw up a croud of citizens that now it is our turn to do the stoning.
flack vest and gas mask! Truely a coward.
Good call. Dressed like a SWAT cop.
http://militarystockphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/POLICE-SWAT-TEAM-ACTION/G0000mSM5mr6dK5E/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inselian.jpg
Does anyone know if Tom Sullivan found his son Alex yet? Tom Sullivan was shown in several pictures crying and also showing pictures of his son, looking for him.
Does anyone know if Tom Sullivan found his son Alex. Tom was shown in several of the pictures crying and very distraught.
Durng the genocidal massacres in Rwanda over 700,000 people were killed in 100 days. Most were killed with gardening tools.
My prayers to every family involved. It's getting to the point where it's not safe to go anywhere.
Close the U. S. Borders and stop taking all the crazies from every country imaginable. I was born here in the 50's and there wasn't as much crap going on. Lets take in some more crazy Russians, Bosnians, Mexicans and all the rest. Slam me all you want but you know it's true. So sad.
Back them we did not need locks on doors and we left the key in the new chevy.......
Back then you might as well leave the key in a Chevy. They only had about a dozen patterns. Almost as bad as the FEMA trailers sent to New Orleans after Katrina that only had 4 key patterns.
Then we have ABC identifying the wrong Holmes in a news report ... journalists who report information that is obviously wrong and verifiable wrong should be fined $10M and jailed for 25 years for destroying the life/lives of others. Anyone mis-identified by ABC should sue the network for millions and demand it be shut down.
What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones.
Horrible events like this understandably lead to much reflection and debate.
Would more people have died if a couple of people with CCWs had fired back? I seriously doubt it. This guy was a coward and likely would have headed for the exit if he got returned fire.
I don't pack a CCW but in the rare event of getting caught in such a situation someone returning fire might make the difference between a crazed assasin emptying one clip of ammo instead of half a dozen.
Is it likely that some innocents might get caught in the crossfire? Of course. But how many people in total were killed or wounded? How many rounds did this murderer get off? And how about the lunatic in Norway who fired on defenseless kids for better part of an hour?
Of course one can argue that 20 people rushing the shooter could have brought him down. But that didn't happen did it. Instead he spent several minutes mowing down defenseless victims.
There is a reasonable argument to be made for CCWs in a society where guns are already plentiful for would-be criminals. I understand those who disagree.
The alternative is security screening at all public venues and armed guards present in every place where people gather. I've lived in multiple countries where this was the result because of high crime and terrorists. It's not a pleasant alternative.
One report stated he was outfitted with ballistic attire from head to toe...not much of a kill zone. It would have been more effective if someone had jumped him from behind after he passed their row. Easier said than done, obviously, in such a stressful situation.
When such a shocking event happens we wonder how is it possible that anyone could do something so cruel to their fellows. We forget that ordinary people commit this sort of violence daily in Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of duty.
To all of you fools who blame the gun and think gun control is the answer, you fail to recognize the problem here and have no capability to contribute to a solution. This was an act of evil and hate. It has nothing to do with guns. He could have killed every person in the theater without a single gun. How many guns did timothy McVeigh use to kill the people in Oklahoma City, not to mention thousands who died at the World Trade Center without the use of a single firearm.
One more thought on the gun issue....if he had no guns, would he have detonated a bomb? The body count could have been in the hundreds.
Those who wish to kill...will kill; with whatever method is at their disposal.