Shooting inside Colorado movie theater during Batman premier

[astrosdude91]

I contemplated putting this in the official The Dark Knight Rises thread. But I didn't want to hijack the thread from people who wished to discuss the movie itself. And it's a significant enough event to warrant it's own thread. If a moderator disagrees however, then move/merge/close this thread if you wish.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

A masked gunman opens fire on a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, USA during the midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Crazy stuff. 14 dead and 50 hurt is the current count as of this writing. Very sad when anything like this happens. I'm sure Columbine is still very fresh in the memories of Denverite's.

 

[Schwartz]

Damn, what the hell is that all about?

 

[Caz]

Rediculous! Was just watching this on the morning news.
Sad that someone could possibly do something like this.

Only good news is the "suspect" was caught and not killed or suicide(d). Good chance he planned on going out in a blaze of "glory" and suicide by cop.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Terrible news. Possibly a sick Joker wannabe. May all deceased rest in peace. Feel for their families.

 

[sesshomaru]

this is such a tragedy, i live near that city. I was shocked to hear about this. R.I.P

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Possibly a sick Joker wannabe.

Eyewitness reports claim he was dressed as Bane, the villain in the film. Others suggest he was dressed as the Joker.

There are also reports that the shooting coincided with a gunfight in the film, though some contradict this claiming that they were timed to coincide with Batman's first appearance on-screen.

 

[mattythedog]

Gunman named as James Holmes. Stuff like this makes me so sad, watching coverage on the BBC now. RIP

 

[Ross]

RIP to all the dead and get well to all the injured. Worrying thing is that I'm going to Colorado next Easter for a ski trip.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Worrying thing is that I'm going to Colorado next Easter for a ski trip.

At the risk of sounding indelicate, I don't think this has anything to do with the shooter and/or victims being from Colorado. No motive has been established for the shooting, though very early reports claimed that the suspect was trying to make a statement against the films, which he claimed were political indoctrination. Though that might have been a rumour started amidst the backlash to certain negative reviews of the film that claim it is politically-oriented and "hates" the 99%.

 

[Ross]

At the risk of sounding indelicate, I don't think this has anything to do with the shooter and/or victims being from Colorado. No motive has been established for the shooting, though very early reports claimed that the suspect was trying to make a statement against the films, which he claimed were political indoctrination. Though that might have been a rumour started amidst the backlash to certain negative reviews of the film that claim it is politically-oriented and "hates" the 99%.

Now that's just petit. Killing that many people (some of them children) and injuring many more just to make a point.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

No motive has been established. There are several contradictory reports of exactly what happened, so it will probably take a whole lot longer to pin down a motive. It should be somewhat easier now, given that police have a suspect in custody.

 

[PR1VATEJ0KER]

Guns :'(

 

[Tesla]

Guns People. :'(

Fixed that for you. Reports that the gunman was wearing a bulletproof vest, a gas mask and had smoke bombs/tear gas on his person.

 

[HumanDestroyah]

I just saw that there was a 3 month old baby injured in the shooting. I'm so sad to hear about the victims who were injured & or killed. It's suprising/upsetting just how many children were there.

 

[fureddo]

あall my heart goes to the families who lost someone in this tragedy today. Even kids were killed... I'll soon have my first little daughter so my heart is such at pain when I read this news. As many innocent lives have been taken away by foolishness, it's not appropriate to start any debate, but if only guns were not so easily accessible, maybe another Columbine-like killing could have been avoided.
How many innocents need to be killed before they understand that selling lethal weapons to the mass is not a sustainable answer to violence?

 

[MustangRyan]

Rediculous! Was just watching this on the morning news.
Sad that someone could possibly do something like this.

Only good news is the "suspect" was caught and not killed or suicide(d). Good chance he planned on going out in a blaze of "glory" and suicide by cop.

Great, I'm so glad my tax money is going to go toward feeding/clothing/housing this sad sack of crap for the next 50 years.

On the bright side, Colorado has the death penalty. So, maybe we can save the tax payers a million dollars or more over the next 50 years and just pay for a quick round of booster shots.

 

[atomrah]

Horrible news... I was thinking of taking my kids today, but now I can't just shake the thought of all those innocent people dying. My thoughts and prayers go out to any and all families affected by this tragedy.

 

[Famine]

あall my heart goes to the families who lost someone in this tragedy today. Even kids were killed... I'll soon have my first little daughter so my heart is such at pain when I read this news. As many innocent lives have been taken away by foolishness, it's not appropriate to start any debate, but if only guns were not so easily accessible, maybe another Columbine-like killing could have been avoided.
How many innocents need to be killed before they understand that selling lethal weapons to the mass is not a sustainable answer to violence?

It'd sure have been a shorter spree if the rest of the mass had guns - and a longer one if the only firearms in the place were his illegally obtained ones.

 

[Blitz24]

Now that's just petit. Killing that many people (some of them children) and injuring many more just to make a point.

Agreed, makes him no better than any despot killing people.

Great, I'm so glad my tax money is going to go toward feeding/clothing/housing this sad sack of crap for the next 50 years.

On the bright side, Colorado has the death penalty. So, maybe we can save the tax payers a million dollars or more over the next 50 years and just pay for a quick round of booster shots.

The sad thing is that jail is actually better than being homeless. In theory if you are in jail you are in a place that has a bed, clothes and food (not offered when you are homeless).

 

[Encyclopedia]

Absolutely awful. I wonder what breeds these madmen.

 

[MustangRyan]

It'd sure have been a shorter spree if the rest of the mass had guns - and a longer one if the only firearms in the place were his illegally obtained ones.

Absolutely correct. If guns become 100% illegal, the only people that would have them are the ones that obtain them illegally. People are already doing that, even though there are legal ways to get them in place now.

Guess which type of gun-owner commits most of these types of crimes:

1. The legally-registered gun owner with a registered conceal/carry permit.
2. The guy that steals guns or buys them illegally out of some guy's trunk.

If you do away with person number 1, no one is going to be able to stop person number 2 except the police. The mere absence of person number 1 from society is going to encourage more people to become person number 2. You think that's better!?

 

[mattythedog]

The scary thing is, this could happen anywhere. There's no security for cinemas, and once the shooting starts its impossible to stop it, unless somebody else has a gun, but why would you take a gun to a film?

 

[Ross]

Agreed, makes him no better than any despot killing people.

Yes but this guy killed children. That's just the bottom level.

 

[Tired Tyres]

It'd sure have been a shorter spree if the rest of the mass had guns - and a longer one if the only firearms in the place were his illegally obtained ones.

Or a massively increased death toll as a bunch of untrained scared people fire bullets in every conceivable direction in panic.

Your comment reminds me of claims by gun fans that if people had been allowed to carry guns on aircraft then 9/11 wouldn't have happened. Idiots would have blown holes in the planes and brought them down anyway.

 

[Blitz24]

Yes but this guy killed children. That's just the bottom level.

Pick your despot. Many of them kill children too.

 

[TankAss95]

This guy must be insane. I can't comprehend how any person could be thinking straight to do something like this.

 

[Müle]

Absolutely correct. If guns become 100% illegal, the only people that would have them are the ones that obtain them illegally. People are already doing that, even though there are legal ways to get them in place now.

Guess which type of gun-owner commits most of these types of crimes:

1. The legally-registered gun owner with a registered conceal/carry permit.
2. The guy that steals guns or buys them illegally out of some guy's trunk.

If you do away with person number 1, no one is going to be able to stop person number 2 except the police. The mere absence of person number 1 from society is going to encourage more people to become person number 2. You think that's better!?

There was a shooting in Toronto just this Monday, and the one guy did fire back, and so far, I believe he's the only one who's been charged with anything ("reckless discharge" or something like that). I'd focus on trying to eliminate the black market first, as hard as that would be.

 

[atomrah]

Absolutely awful. I wonder what breeds these madmen.

Lunacy and a total loss of objectivity. I think most of these people have lost contact with reality & themselves.

 

[Blitz24]

There was a shooting in Toronto just this Monday, and the one guy did fire back, and so far, I believe he's the only one who's been charged with anything ("reckless discharge" or something like that). I'd focus on trying to eliminate the black market first, as hard as that would be.

Oh my. So essentially if you DO fire back and you are person 1 in the previous post, you get charged with a crime as well. Completely logical.

 

[MustangRyan]

Or a massively increased death toll as a bunch of untrained scared people fire bullets in every conceivable direction in panic.

Your comment reminds me of claims by gun fans that if people had been allowed to carry guns on aircraft then 9/11 wouldn't have happened. Idiots would have blown holes in the planes and brought them down anyway.

The plane was going down, no matter what. To me, crashing it down in a field is better than flying it into a skyscraper, where several thousand more people were killed.

Also, to stereotype all legal conceal/carry owners as untrained is asinine. These are some of the most trained and educated private citizens you are going to find. The people carrying illegally are much more likely to be untrained with their weapons. But wait, that's why it's illegal for them to carry, right?