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Subscribe to RSSColorado shooting suspect James Eagan Holmes booby-trapped his apartment with wires and incendiary devices. Bomb experts are trying to figure out the best way to proceed so that they can search the apartment without triggering an explosion. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
AURORA, Colo. -- Neighbors of the man accused of firing into a packed movie theater outside Denver, killing 12 and injuring 58, carried bags and baskets filled with clothes, Bibles and toiletries after police briefly let them return home late Friday while they worked to determine if he booby-trapped his apartment.
Lavonne Bradshaw, 52, who has lived in the neighborhood for one year, carried her light brown ringneck dove “Bonzo” in a large cage. The bird was left behind when police officers evacuated her and her two daughters around 5 a.m.
“The next thing I knew the whole SWAT team, everybody was out there,” she told NBC News. “We pretty much grabbed what we can and we went out.”
Bradshaw said authorities told them they had to leave because there could be a possible incendiary device set up by the suspect, James Holmes, who lived across the street and who she had seen a few times.
Aurora police said Holmes booby-trapped his apartment with an elaborate network of wire-connected bottles containing unknown liquids, perhaps intended to go off when authorities arrived to canvass his home.
Holmes told police about the trap before they arrived, however, and investigators hadn't entered the apartment Friday night. They were analyzing gases and examining photographs of the scene to figure out how to deal with the materials and had decided to defer any action until Saturday at the earliest.
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It’s not clear when Bradshaw or her neighbors will be able to go back home. She was going to stay with her brother for the night, while other neighbors said they planned to rent motel rooms though a school was set up as a shelter.
In the rush to leave her apartment, Bradshaw also left behind needles for her diabetes treatment. She carried that along with Bonzo’s food late Friday. Others toted toothbrushes and clothes. One man carried his uniform for his work in passenger services at the airport.
“It’s unbelievable, and it’s just very sad,” Bradshaw said. “This community here, everyone knows each other, we know people that were at the theater … and my son was going to watch the movie but had a change of plans … of which I’m glad.”
Several people gathered on a corner down the street from where Holmes lived said they wanted to move.
“That man is crazy,” said Brenda Luna, a 26-year-old who works as a hotel supervisor and lived in the same building as Holmes. She said she was very frightened and would leave her place in a month.
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Officers were stationed at New York theaters and elsewhere in the country where "The Dark Knight Rises" was playing. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Sitting near her on the grass, Jesus Arteaga, 34, said he grabbed shoes, a set of clothes and a Bible when police let him into his apartment for a few minutes. His roommate, Leonardo Felix, who works in roofing, questioned if he could sleep well when they were allowed to return.
“We have to move, we have to leave that place,” said Felix, 52, noting that he worried “maybe other people will come around here and do the same” as Holmes.
Jimmy Davis, a 54-year-old airport worker, carried his uniform on a hanger and a toothbrush in his shirt pocket late Friday. He said he slept on a cot in a police training building where some evacuees were initially taken.
He said he wouldn’t have any qualms returning home: “This is where I live.”
Bradshaw also said she wouldn’t have a problem returning.
“I’d just like to be home, of course … but, you know, I want to make sure it’s safe,” she said, as sirens wailed in the distance.
Suspect James Eagan Holmes reportedly never said a word while allegedly shooting 71 people and killing 12 in a sold-out showing for Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said it was "the act of a very deranged mind." NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
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- Woman who died in rampage narrowly escaped being shot last month
- Security at movie theaters comes into focus in wake of shootings
- People with same name as suspect hounded on social media
- Witnesses react online to 'Dark Knight' theater shooting
Leave a Comment:
Wow. At least he told the cops about the devices. Probably saved a lot more lives that would have otherwise been lost. This story is so tragic.
if you remember last week newt gingrich instigated this ordeal by saying, "the black night was an insult or depicting mitt romney" i say get newts gingrinch for using his animal instinct in this horrific ordeal...besides the killer!! down with gingrinch and romney!! It is sad families and children suffered and died over ignorance!
Really????? You're actually saying that this guy decided to do this because Newt Gingrich told him to?
And what, exactly do you mean by "get Newt Gingrich for using his animal instinct in this horrific deal.."?
Are you nuts? And you're actually blaming Gingrich and Romney for this along with the shooter. I've heard some off the wall comments but this one is really ridiculous. And I hope you voted for your own comment because I'd shudder to think there are actually 2 people on this planet that try to make the same insane connection.
Your comment should be deleted.
@Jay I wholeheartedly concur. It was utter nonsense.
I'm very sorry for family and friends of those killed. I salute Colorado police for their quick responce. Thank you NBCNEWS for complete coverage.
Boobytraps, sounds so funny like in goonies when the chinese kid says i got booby twaps, just trying to lighten up the moment,
just sayin..
Just think what could have happened if the police had killed this crazy fool at the theater, The police then would have went to this guys apt looking for clues as to why it all happened and possibly have been blown up (due to the bombs) along with others in the area because they wouldn't have been told about the explosives.
Here's what I'd like to see happen to him now,
I would love it if they took this crazy shooter and sent him to Afghanistan with his suit of Armour with something bad about the Koran printed on his back, (Koran burner services) He wouldn't last long and he'd find out what its like to have people shooting back at him for real plus we then wouldn't have to pay to keep him alive for life in a U.S. prison which he doesn't deserve either.
Just an idea though..
Nah- Just toss him thru the window into his own booby trapped apartment,cuffed, behind his back, and leave him there. Oh ya- naked after covering the floor in broken glass.
This proves my theory about three different spieces of human beings on planet earth. Obviously he a decendant of the Apes. Its time to put him down like a rabbid animal. Thank the lord he didn't procreate any off spring.
what really chaps my hide is WTF how can they not get in to that apt, i understand there are booby traps, lol
but send in a robot or something, cut the red wire why is there so much drama tied to this apt. let it go stop glorifying this guy as some bomb maker and giving him credit, thats what he wants, what they need to do is drag his ace there in handcuffs and restraints and have him open the door and see what happens then tear down the buildings and put up a memorial, to soon..
just sayin..
Drama? I think the police force is concerned about everyone's safety and not destroying all of the other residents homes and belongings. Tear down the buildings? Where are all the other residents gonna go? To your house? Are you gonna pay for their lost belongings and replace their irreplaceable items? I think not. So I commend the officers and all the steps they took to ensure the best possible out come so this maniac couldn't claim any more lives and chaos. What a ridiculous comment to leave!
dmatthews3-
disabling a bomb takes a lot more than "cutting the red wire". Plus the police are just being careful so that more lives aren't lost. They want to keep evidence so that when the trial comes along there is no chance of this guy going free. Even if they take him up to the apartment to disable the booby traps there is still no guarantee that he won't just blow himself up... just saying
I think you make a good point.. There is reason to suspect destroying evidence might have part of his motive along with collatoral damage should he have been killed in the shooting
unbelievable, goes to prove how much ignorance there is...crazy comments....please!!!! and of course, there will be more stupid comments on this one...ha ha....don't people see each other face to face anymore...future is, no mouth.big eyes, stubby hands with one thumb (hey, does this sound familiar)...cheezzzz...evolutuion
With all this tragedy, one would like to think that a few hotels in the area would step up and offer free rooms for the residents that can't go home.
This man put so much thought into what he planned.Telling the police about what he did to his apartment is now about knowing they must go through the struggle and frustration of figuring out how to get into it safely. He could have said nothing and let them die. But instead he is prolonging the power trip he is on by having them forced to take their time trying to play his mind game of getting into the apartment,while having his neighbors displaced. He knows exactly what he is doing. It would not surprise me one bit if the bottles contained something that didn't blow up. Otherwise, why tell the police? If he was going to kill all those people in the theatre, why not add to the body count? He is one very disturbed individual, with not a shred of human decency or humanity. Hell bent on making his claim to fame for whatever reason. The media should stop using his name and just refer to him from now on as the shooter. Let him fade from memory and set his punishment at the maximum.
“That man is crazy,” said Brenda Luna, a 26-year-old who works as a hotel supervisor and lived in the same building as Holmes. She said she was very frightened and would leave her place in a month.
I understand Ms. Luna's position.
I wonder--why did Holmes, a careful planner, tell the police about the apartment he worked so hard to rig? It almost seems like a distraction. I'd be scared to walk anywhere within that building!
these police must need a think ank or some thing.... they have wasted enough money trying to figure it out.... This is an appartment complex, whip out the chainsaw and cut a whole in floor or roof of apartment to gain entry, regardless of what repeairs cost, its probably cheaper than the manpower involved at this point.... i cant belive the feds and other law enforcement involved havent thought of this as a practical method to gain entry... morons.....
think tank*
Just go through the wall I say, easier then fighting against gravity.
Clothing Bibles and toiletries eh? Realy? Is that really what people were rescuing from there homes? Must of been a few Korans and Torahs in those bags too. I bet alot more people got there laptops, and credit cards, maybe family photo albums, possibly some reading material other than bibles. I know, I am splitting hairs.. who really cares what they are carrying out. I would bet only a hand full of bibles were actually packed most hotels leave them in the night table... I guess I get the symbolism though.. would have a been a bit of a run-on sentence to include all religions. Saying "Clothing, iPads and toiletries" doesn't have the same effect, either. I think simply, 'Bags of personal belongings' would have sufficed and driven home the point of how critical and scary this situation must be for the families living in that building right now. Scary stuff, I guess we were overdue for a psychotic mass murder.. whats it been a couple years? What possesses people? Crazy