• 'In shock and covered in blood': Report describes chaos after Aurora shootings

    Slideshow: Shooting at Batman screening in Aurora, Colo.

    Karl Gehring / The Denver Post

    Twelve people were killed and 58 injured when a gunman opened fire during the premiere of a Batman movie.

    Launch slideshow

    By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A newly released document describes gridlock and confusion after the massacre at a Colorado movie theater last summer — bleeding victims swarming emergency vehicles and a traffic jam caused by a crush of police, firefighters and paramedics.

    The response was complicated by initial reports of two bombs in the theater and even by a nearby street-paving operation, according to the document, a review by the Aurora, Colo., fire department published Wednesday by The Denver Post.

    Almost as many victims were taken to the hospital by police as by ambulances, and police had to drive some victims up a grassy hill behind the theater to get them help, the newspaper reported.

    “There’s always lessons to be learned and lessons to be shared,” Aurora Fire Chief Mike Garcia told the newspaper. “I’m so proud of the response of our firefighters.”

    Twelve people were killed and 58 injured on July 20, 2012, when a gunman stormed the midnight release of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises.” Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for James Holmes, for whom a judge has entered a not-guilty plea.

    Barry Gutierrez / AP file

    Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members outside a high school where he had been searching for his son, Alex Sullivan, who was killed when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater last summer.

    The fire report does not assign blame or even establish missteps in the emergency response. Instead, it describes the terrified disorder that gripped the Century 16 theater complex and its surroundings in the first hour after the shootings:

    • Paving on South Sable Boulevard, the main road closest to the theater, cut traffic to one lane, and parking lots outside the theater were packed because it was opening night for an expected blockbuster film.
    • 1,400 frantic moviegoers ran from the theater into the parking lot. “I encountered hundreds of people running and screaming for help,” one member of Aurora fire Battalion 1 said. “Many people appeared wounded. Others were just running.”
    • The theater itself had only two entry points, and while the first fire engine to arrive used one of them, police quickly blocked both.
    • Because of reports that someone was shooting, moviegoers got as far away as they could, and patients wound up in eight places, including a Dillard’s parking lot, some almost 2,000 feet away.

    One lieutenant from Aurora fire’s Tower 8 who worked the Dillard’s scene told the review: “Several people were unsure if they had been shot since they were in shock and covered in blood.”

    The Aurora police chief and other city officials declined to discuss the shooting, citing a court-imposed gag order. An outside review of the response is on hold because prosecutors worry it could impede their case against Holmes, the newspaper said.

    Aurora police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday from NBC News. An Aurora fire spokeswoman declined comment to NBC News.

    This story was originally published on Wed May 1, 2013 9:57 AM EDT

  • Hearing for accused theater shooter James Holmes could be proxy trial

    Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office / Reuters file

    James Holmes, 25, is charged with 160 criminal counts, including murder, for a July 20 shooting rampage at a movie theater that left 12 people dead and dozens more wounded.

     

    By Dan Elliott, The Associated Press

    CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The suspect in the Colorado movie theater killings returns to court this week for a hearing that might be the closest thing to a trial the victims and their families will get to see. 

    James Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student, is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 by opening fire in a darkened theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora last July. 

    At a week-long preliminary hearing that begins Monday, prosecutors will outline their case against Holmes, the first official public disclosure of their evidence. The judge will then determine whether to send the case to trial. 

    Legal analysts say that evidence appears to be so strong that Holmes may well accept a plea agreement before trial. In such cases, the preliminary hearing can set the stage for a deal by letting each side assess the other's strengths and weaknesses, said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and now a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. 

    Preliminary hearings "are often the first step to resolving the case, a mini-trial so both sides can see the writing on the wall," Levenson said. 

    Judges rarely throw out a case at this stage because prosecutors must only meet a "probable cause" standard — much lower than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard for a guilty verdict at trial, said Mimi Wesson, a professor of law at the University of Colorado Law School. 

    Related: Court hearing in Colorado theater shooting zeroes in on James Holmes' notebook 

    Holmes, who faces more than 160 counts including first-degree murder and attempted murder, could have waived his right to a preliminary hearing, allowing lawyers on both sides to prepare for trial. But defense lawyers sometimes go through with the hearing because it gives them a clearer picture of prosecution evidence. 

    "In this case, I think it likely that the genuine purpose of the hearing would be information-gathering by the defense," Wesson said. 


    Court officials expect many survivors and family members of the dead to attend the preliminary hearing, along with scores of spectators and reporters. At least two overflow rooms are being prepared where the hearing can be observed by video and audio feeds. 

    District Judge William B. Sylvester has imposed a gag order on attorneys and investigators, and many court documents have been filed under seal, so little is known about Holmes' path from promising graduate student to suspect in a mass murder. 

    The few details that have been made public suggest a disturbing descent. 

    Holmes enrolled in the University of Colorado, Denver Ph.D program in neuroscience in 2011. In the spring of 2012, authorities say, he began buying weapons, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, explosives and combat gear. At some point in the school year, he began seeing a university psychiatrist. He failed an oral exam on June 7 and withdrew from the university three days later. 

    He was arrested outside the theater shortly after the July 20 shootings. Federal authorities have said he entered the theater with a ticket and is believed to have propped open a door, slipped out to his car and returned with his weapons. 

    Hours later, investigators found his apartment booby-trapped with potentially deadly explosives, police said. 

    In previous hearings — many witnessed by victims and survivors — Holmes' appearance and behavior ranged from bizarre to unremarkable. On his first day in court, his hair was a shocking orange-red, his face was covered with stubble and he seemed to be in a daze. 

    By last week, his hair was a natural-looking brown and he wore a full beard. He sat quietly and seemed to be aware of the proceedings. 

    Holmes could get the death penalty or life in prison without parole if he goes to trial and is convicted of murder. He could avoid the death penalty if his lawyers argue he is mentally ill or innocent by reason of insanity. 

    Related: Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes mentally ill, attorneys say

    Holmes' mental health is expected to be a major factor whether his case ends in a plea agreement or goes to trial. 

    His lawyers have told the judge that Holmes was mentally ill, and court records indicate they may call witnesses in the preliminary hearing to testify about his mental health. The defense team has not said whether Holmes would enter an insanity plea. 

    An insanity plea is different from the competency argument used for Jared Loughner, who pleaded guilty to killing six people and wounding 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, in Arizona in 2011. 

    A judge ruled in May 2011 that Loughner was mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to undergo psychiatric treatment. After Loughner spent more than a year in treatment, the judge ruled he had become competent, and Loughner accepted a plea agreement that carried a sentence of life in prison without parole instead of execution. 

    The decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be up to the new district attorney for Arapahoe County, George Brauchler, who was elected in November and takes office Tuesday, after the preliminary hearing begins. Brauchler has not indicated what he will do. 

    A spokeswoman for outgoing District Attorney Carol Chambers, who oversaw the filing of charges against Holmes, declined to comment. 

    If prosecutors do not seek the death penalty, and if Holmes is convicted of or pleads guilty to first-degree murder charges, he would face a mandatory sentence of life without parole. 

    Gun control continues to rile both sides, with gun collectors holding a show near Newtown, Conn., and with the launch of Vice President Joe Biden's gun-violence task force. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

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  • Funerals, memorials for Aurora shooting victims planned across nation

    Police returned to the apartment of suspected Colorado shooter James Holmes to search for more evidence as relatives of the victims make plans for funerals. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    By Vignesh Ramachandran

    Friends and family members were beginning to gather Wednesday in Aurora, Colo., and across the nation for ceremonies remembering the 12 people killed in Friday's movie theater massacre.

    Gordon W. Cowden, the oldest victim at age 51, was being remembered as "a quick-witted world traveler with a keen sense of humor," according to a statement issued by his family. A memorial service for the Texas native was being held Wednesday at Pathways Church in Denver, followed by a separate service at the Riverbend Centre in Austin, Texas.

    Micayla Medek

    Services for Micayla Medek, 23, will be held Thursday at New Hope Baptist Church in Denver after a viewing Wednesday at the Newcomer Funeral Home & Crematory in Aurora. The Micayla Medek Memorial Fund has been established at the Fitzsimons Credit Union.


    Jessica Ghawi

    A memorial service for 24-year-old aspiring sportscaster Jessica Ghawi, will be held Saturday in her native San Antonio, Texas, her brother Jordan wrote on his blog.  Her body will be crremated in Denver before the service in San Antonio's Community Bible Church. A separate memorial service for Ghawi, who wrote under the name Jessica Redfield,will be held Saturday at The Edge Ice Arena in Littleton, Colo., according to the New York Daily News.

    Her  family has established the "Official Jessica Redfield Sports Journalism Scholarship Fund."

    Related: Miracle baby of the Aurora tragedy

    Matt McQuinn

    Matt McQuinn, 27, will be buried in his native Ohio. According to the Springfield News-Sun, visitation will take place Friday at the Maiden Lane Church of God in Springfield, Ohio. A fund to help offset funeral costs has been set up through the church. On Saturday, his funeral is at 10 a.m. and burial is at Lawrenceville Cemetery in Clark County, Ohio.

    The family of John Larimer, 27, said his funeral and burial would be private that a public visitation will be 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Davenport Funeral Home in his hometown of Crystal Lake, Ill., the Northwest Herald reported.

    John Larimer

    "While we are overwhelmed by pain by this terrible loss, we are mindful of the other 11 families mourning the loss of another promising, wonderful young person, and the dozens of other families at the bedside of their injured loved one, hoping, praying they recover fully," Larimer's aunt, Karen Lavin, said in a statement to the Northwest Herald. "None of us will ever fully recover from such a terrible loss, the senseless, brutal actions that in just seconds took so many, so much away from us."

    Alex Sullivan

    For Alex Sullivan, who died on his 27th birthday, public visitation will take place Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. at The HeartLight Center in Aurora.

    "We're shocked," Shelly Fradkin, the mother of one of Sullivan's good friends, told the Longmont Times-Call. "We're numb. We're sick," Fradkin said. "Our hearts are broken, and we're crushed."

    Alex Teves

    Alex Teves, 24, died shielding his girlfriend from the flying bullets.

    "You're talking about probably one of the best people on Earth, and he can't be replaced," father Tom Teves told Denver's NBC-affiliate, KUSA. "He can't be replaced for our family. He can't be replaced in society. We're going to miss him terribly. We love him. We know he's in Heaven. We know he's going to be ok. We're the ones who're going to suffer."

    The Teves family is planning memorial services in Arizona and New Jersey.

    Related: 6-year-old girl, sailor, aspiring broadcaster among Colorado shooting victims

    Jonathan Blunk

    Jonathan Blunk, 26, also died attempting to shield a friend. Chantel Blunk, his estranged wife, told NBC News from Reno, Nev.: "He wanted to die a hero." She said there are plans to bring his body home to Reno, and has set up an account through Wells Fargo to raise funds to offset the funeral and transportation expenses.

    Blunk will be buried with military honors Friday in Reno, Nev., according to the New York Daily News.

    AJ Boik

    Alexander Jonathan "AJ" Boik, 18, had plans to attend art school, become an art teacher and open his own studio. A spokesperson for Aurora Public Schools, where Boik was a recent graduate of Gateway High School, said there was a private memorial service Monday. There will be a public visitation on Thursday from 1 to 5 p.m. at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel in Aurora. A funeral mass for Boik will be 10 a.m. Friday at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora.

    Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32, was originally from Quinlan, Texas. Her father, Steve Hernandez, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday: I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable, I hear she died instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable." A college fund has been set up for Wingo's two daughters at the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, according to KUSA.

    Funeral services for Wingo will be in Colorado on Friday, according to KHON2 in Honolulu.

    Veronica Moser-Sullivan

    Veronica Moser-Sullivan was the youngest victim at age 6. Her father, Ian Sullivan, told KUSA, "She's always been a free-spirited child."

    As of Tuesday, a fund for all the victims and families of the tragedy has reached $2 million, KUSA reported. People can donate online at GivingFirst.org.

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