Shooting At Aurora, Colorado Movie Theater (1 Viewer)

[Rayderr]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

I thought so. Last week my wife and I went to a movie and during the movie a couple went out the emergency door and tripped an alarm. Maybe it is different for each area? Fire codes? Also, many people have said the shooter kicked in the emergency exit.

Given that the doors open out, it seems rather unlikely. You'd have to kick down the entire door frame.

 

[FavreCo]

To those of you seriously suggesting this was a flaw in the theater security, this is what like the first shooting in a billion movie showings? Things like this cannot be anticipated and therefore cannot be prevented. Even if it could, probably no way to do it that is cost-efficient. No sense in calling in captain hindsight here.

Strange that Andy and I wonder why it didn't trigger an alarm. Seems that if we owned that movie theater, it would have. I also would have one of the employees checking those doors in between movies.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

 

[eoMMan]

I'm also surprised that this guy is alive. It seems like 99% of the time they take their own lives or get shot by the police.

 

[ffldrew]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartmentIt won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

My wife is a child/family counselor and although she doesn't tell me specifics, there are a lot of messed up people in this world and it starts at a young age due to horrible parenting/circumstances.

And it's a pretty complicated world these days - and if you had bad parenting it just doesn't help-heck in many cases these parents weren't equipped to do their job thanks to their parents - when you start having problems there aren't easy protocols and procedures in place to "fix" you. These type of people need free and easy, they aren't wired to deal with the labyrinth of our health care/mental health care system. And that costs money - so we can decide as a society that we afford these shooting incidents or we pay for free mental health care.

 

[Apple Jack]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

 

[falguy]

F'ed up people do f'ed up things.

The technology used to be a maniac is less urgent than the person using that technology.

Yet in this country they almost always use guns. I wonder why that is. I wonder if it's because of the ease and convenience? There is no barrier to stop them and make them go to lengths to build improvised devices. It's curious that they don't use guns AND build improvised devices since they could kill more people that way. But then that would be inconvenient.

I really don't want to get sucked into this, but does the name Tim McVeigh ring a bell?

The Unabomber and McVeigh are not good arguments, because practically speaking, it's far easier to obtain a gun and walk into a crowded movie theater (or crowded anywhere for that matter) than to do what those two guys did. But it's a useless discussion, because unless you're willing to pass laws that would remove all guns from private citizens (and enforce those laws with a police force about ten times stronger than we have now) there is no means to prevent mass shootings in this country.

I completely agree here. Yet we'll always react by making some changes until the nexttime when the psychos find an alternate way to raise hell. Unfortunately, it's a battle you cannot win.

 

[timschochet]

Obviously not always white, but...

it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Because if it was propped open and there was an alarm going off, it would have continued to sound and people wouldn't have been in the theater.

 

[Rayderr]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

well, propping the door open ahead of time wouldn't have worked. Of course, where there's a will, there's a way, so he would've just found some other way to achieve his goal.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

I thought so. Last week my wife and I went to a movie and during the movie a couple went out the emergency door and tripped an alarm. Maybe it is different for each area? Fire codes? Also, many people have said the shooter kicked in the emergency exit.

Given that the doors open out, it seems rather unlikely. You'd have to kick down the entire door frame.

Good point! I think people piece together the events in their minds, and some of those events may be a little sketchy.

 

[NCCommish]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Women act out differently. Women are more likely to turn their insanity on their family or acquaintances than strangers. I think we have seen that play out more than once. Female serial or spree killers are very rare.

 

[identikit]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Important questions here.

 

[Apple Jack]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Because if it was propped open and there was an alarm going off, it would have continued to sound and people wouldn't have been in the theater.

So he just goes in the front door.

 

[FavreCo]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Um, warned people that something is not right? Remember, 'wow look at that special effect'. They thought the smoke was an effect.Also, he had to open it from the inside. He came thru the door. Thus propped open prior to him coming in or an accomplice.

 

[ffldrew]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

It's a fair point for discussion - a couple of counter points - as I said before, our world is more complicated - faster and complex - and I think it unveils issues we have as humans - maybe we aren't genetically ready across the board for this world we live in. And we just have more people on this earth - so the percentages are just in play.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Women already have an outlet for their angst/crazy,...making us miserable.Seriously though, I suspect it is some of all of the above. Violent women certainly exist, but they are a lot rarer than violent men.

 

[netnalp]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartmentIt won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

It's hard to do preventative mental health. How can you tell what is teen-age angst and what is serious mental illness. Are you going to put anyone that is into goth, or dresses like they are in a street gang into a mental hospital?In my families case, my brother was quiet, didn't even talk much to family members. Sure we knew he had issues and thought he could benefit from therapy. We thought he was anti-social, it never occurred to us that he was capable of committing horrific violent acts.I don't believe that we could have had him committed for not being chatty. It wasn't like he didn't have access to therapy. He attended college and most universities have free counseling and therapy for students. For whatever reason, embarrassment, having already committed a violent crime he was keeping secret, he didn't take advantage of the help available.I also think that once a person gets to the point they are considering doing a violent act like this, they are probably beyond help. So how do you identify those that are likely to become mentally ill far enough in advance where the person can be helped?

 

[NCCommish]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

Compared to throwing people into the street untreated? Yeah I do.

 

[FavreCo]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Because if it was propped open and there was an alarm going off, it would have continued to sound and people wouldn't have been in the theater.

So he just goes in the front door.

Different story there. The fact that there were no alarms allowed this to happen the way it did. Was this inevitable. Yep. This freak was going to do something like this eventually.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

MSNBC is reporting the shooter was in Medical School. Had dropped out last month. The police and fire department are at the shooters apartment. It is booby trapped. They are removing the windows from the fire truck cranes. What a nut!

 

[Rayderr]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Jennifer San Marco, Aileen Wuornos, Debra Brown, Amy Bishop...

 

[Apple Jack]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Because if it was propped open and there was an alarm going off, it would have continued to sound and people wouldn't have been in the theater.

So he just goes in the front door.

Different story there. The fact that there were no alarms allowed this to happen the way it did. Was this inevitable. Yep. This freak was going to do something like this eventually.

The alarm is more or less irrelevant and suggesting that the theater owner is going to lose the theater if there was no alarm is ridiculous. That's all I'm saying.

 

[FavreCo]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Jennifer San Marco, Aileen Wuornos, Debra Brown, Amy Bishop...

Jacky the Ripper. Oh wait that was England. But they say now it may have been a woman.

 

[pantagrapher]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

It's a fair point for discussion - a couple of counter points - as I said before, our world is more complicated - faster and complex - and I think it unveils issues we have as humans - maybe we aren't genetically ready across the board for this world we live in. And we just have more people on this earth - so the percentages are just in play.

we should make a thread of this, cuz this aint the place (too many folks feeding on alarm). will you take a PM so we can bat around how to get a discussion of American mental health going for say Monday when the dust has settled?

 

[FavreCo]

CNN is reporting that Holmes propped the emergency door open before the start of the movie. When the movie started he came in and threw a gas or smoke container and started to shoot people.

Some emergency door... Aren't they supposed to trigger an alarm?

One would think so. If it is supposed to and din't, bye bye movie theater owner.

What would an alarm on the door have done to prevent this?

Because if it was propped open and there was an alarm going off, it would have continued to sound and people wouldn't have been in the theater.

So he just goes in the front door.

Different story there. The fact that there were no alarms allowed this to happen the way it did. Was this inevitable. Yep. This freak was going to do something like this eventually.

The alarm is more or less irrelevant and suggesting that the theater owner is going to lose the theater if there was no alarm is ridiculous. That's all I'm saying.

I'm saying if it was supposed to have an alarm and it didn't go off, the lawsuits will close this thing up. Hell, it may close on it's own.

 

[rascal]

Just found out my friends sister hasn't been heard from since the shooting. She was going to the movie with some friends, but her family didn't know which theater she was going too.

This ####### sucks.

 

[StrikeS2k]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

 

[Smack Tripper]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartmentIt won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

EXACTLY. State run mental health facilities aren't the be-all, but to my recollection, spree shootings took rise after we phased out large scale mental health facilities in the early 80s

 

[eoMMan]

What are the gun laws like in Colorado? Do they give out concealed pistol permits to average joes? If yes, I would think that maybe someone in the crowd could have popped this dude.

Anyone?Can we talk about mental illness and fire alarms some more?

 

[belljr]

It may vary but theaters but around here the emergency exits are just steel doors with the push handles on the inside. Not surprising to see people leave from those exits after a movie.

 

[pantagrapher]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

Who's to say?

 

[CrossEyed]

One of the victims wrote this blog in June.

Link

Ghawi wrote for Busted Coverage and kept a blog of her own. Her last entry was an account of the Eaton Centre shooting last month in Toronto:

I can't get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won't go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.

What started off as a trip to the mall to get sushi and shop, ended up as a day that has forever changed my life. I was on a mission to eat sushi that day, and when I'm on a mission, nothing will deter me. When I arrived at the Eaton Center mall, I walked down to the food court and spotted a sushi restaurant. Instead of walking in, sitting down and enjoying sushi, I changed my mind, which is very unlike me, and decided that a greasy burger and poutine would do the trick. I rushed through my dinner. I found out after seeing a map of the scene, that minutes later a man was standing in the same spot I just ate at and opened fire in the food court full of people. Had I had sushi, I would've been in the same place where one of the victims was found.

My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn't the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn't have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would've been in the midst of gunfire.

I walked around the outside of the mall. People started funneling out of every exit. When I got back to the front, I saw a police car, an ambulance, and a fire truck. I initially thought that maybe the street performer that was drumming there earlier had a heart attack or something. But more and more police officers, ambulances, and fire trucks started showing up. Something terrible has happened. I overheard a panicked guy say, "There was a shooting in the food court." I thought that there was no way, I was just down there. I asked him what happened. He said "Some guy just opened fire. Shot about 8 shots. It sounded like balloons popping. The guy is still on the loose." I'm not sure what made me stick around at this point instead of running as far away from the mall as possible. Shock? Curiosity? Human nature? Who knows.

Standing there in the midst of the chaos all around us, police started yelling to get back and make room. I saw a young shirtless boy, writhing on a stretcher, with his face and head covered by the EMS as they rushed him by us to get him into an ambulance. The moment was surprisingly calm. The EMTs helping the boy weren't yelling orders and no one was screaming like a night time medical drama. It was as if it was one swift movement to get the boy out of the mall and into the ambulance. That's when it really hit me. I felt nauseas. Who would go into a mall full of thousands of innocent people and open fire? Is this really the world we live in?

Police start yelling again "GET BACK NOW!" Another stretcher came rushing out of the mall. I saw a man on a stretcher, the blanket underneath him spotted with blood. Multiple gunshot holes in his chest, side, and neck were visible. It's not like in the movies when you see someone shot and they're bleeding continuously from the wound. There was no blood flowing from the wounds, I could only see the holes. Numerous gaping holes, as if his skin was putty and someone stuck their finger in it. Except these wounds were caused by bullets. Bullets shot out of hatred. His dark skin on his torso was tinted red with what I assume was his own blood. He was rushed into the ambulance and taken away.

More people joined the crowd at the scene and asked what happened. "There was a shooting in the food court," kept being whispered through the crowd like a game of telephone. I was standing near a security guard when I heard him say over his walkie talkie, "One fatality." At this point I was convinced I was going to throw up. I'm not an EMT or a police officer. I'm not trained to handle crime and murder. Gun crimes are fairly common where I grew up in Texas, but I never imagined I'd experience a violent crime first hand. I'm on vacation and wanted to eat and go shopping. Everyone else at the mall probably wanted the same thing. I doubt anyone left for the mall imagined they witness a shooting.

I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.

I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.

I feel like I am overreacting about what I experienced. But I can't help but be thankful for whatever caused me to make the choices that I made that day. My mind keeps replaying what I saw over in my head. I hope the victims make a full recovery. I wish I could shake this odd feeling from my chest. The feeling that's reminding me how blessed I am. The same feeling that made me leave the Eaton Center. The feeling that may have potentially saved my life.

Wow.

 

[Kanil]

Used to live in Aurora for quite a few years and have many friends there.Anywhere yet to find out names of victims or is that going to be slow to be released?

No list yet. I was listening to a sportstalk station this morning on the way in to work and they said that one of their former interns had been shot. They didn't give her name but said she was female and worked there for a year. I think it may have been Katie :( . That's the only thing close to an ID I've heard so far.

Katie moved to one of the Dakotas I thought

It was Jessica Ghawi. Interned at The Fan and did a lot of work with the Avalanche.

 

[StrikeS2k]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

Who's to say?

Nice cop out.

 

[Rayderr]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

We don't know about this guy yet. But seems like it would've helped in a lot of other instances.

 

[OldBill]

CNN has a Pentagon correspondent on saying that U.S. Military troops were among the casualties (no word if that means deaths or injuries).

 

[StrikeS2k]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

We don't know about this guy yet. But seems like it would've helped in a lot of other instances.

Then maybe we could save the mental health rhetoric for those instances. We don't even know if this guy had mental issues yet. He may just have been an angry, angry man.

 

[shadyridr]

One of the victims wrote this blog in June.Wow.

I heard she wrote a book called Touched

 

[jamny]

Obviously not always white, but...it does seem like it's always a guy, doesn't it? Would it be fair to say that women are less likely to do these sort of things? And if so, why is this? Culture? Upbringing? Or a genetic difference between the sexes?

Jennifer San Marco, Aileen Wuornos, Debra Brown, Amy Bishop...

Jacky the Ripper. Oh wait that was England. But they say now it may have been a woman.

gtfo

 

[shadyridr]

One thing I dont understand is why did the shooter tell the police about his booby trapped apartment

 

[Apple Jack]

It may vary but theaters but around here the emergency exits are just steel doors with the push handles on the inside. Not surprising to see people leave from those exits after a movie.

Yep. I've never known those doors to have alarms and have exited through them after films numerous times.

 

[glvsav37]

Just found out my friends sister hasn't been heard from since the shooting. She was going to the movie with some friends, but her family didn't know which theater she was going too.This ####### sucks.

wow, i hope all is well man. Its amazing how we are all just random, autonomous personalities on message boards, then something like this potentially happens and you realize how we all all just humans. thoughts and prayers

 

[Kanil]

CNN has a Pentagon correspondent on saying that U.S. Military troops were among the casualties (no word if that means deaths or injuries).

I heard on the radio this AM that someone from Buckley Air Force Base said there were 2 servicemen stationed on the base that were shot. No idea if they were killed or not. I hope not. Buckley is a big reserve base so I'd imagine most of the people stationed there have seen time in Iraq/Afghanistan. That would be ####ty to survive that and die while watching a movie.

 

[identikit]

One thing I dont understand is why did the shooter tell the police about his booby trapped apartment

A touch of remorse, maybe.With some 'look at me' undertones.

 

[Apple Jack]

CNN has a Pentagon correspondent on saying that U.S. Military troops were among the casualties (no word if that means deaths or injuries).

 

[Rayderr]

Thoughts and prayers to the families of this....

News here is saying they found some explosives in his apartment

It won't be long until we start getting into the gun debate and movie violence debate - but how come no one brings up the real issue and that is the mental illness debate. There are lots of people in this country messed up - the Gabby Giffords guy, Columbine Kids - with real mental issues. And it seems as though people (family and acquaintances) recognized these issues prior to these tragedies. We should consider the value of taking care of these mental issues before hand - to be proactive. The infrastructure and affordable resources around mental illness are sorely lacking - not to mention the 'stigma" to go and ask for help. Heck I bet this guys family knew he needed help and struggled to find him the help he needed. It cost money to deal with this stuff and in today's climate I'm afraid that people really have a difficulty going into community mode to help resolve this.

Excellent point. Here in Chicago many mental health workers were recently laid off, facilities closed and patients transferred or released due to government budget cuts.

no offense, not trying to start a fight, but do you folks actually believe that overall professional intervention into America behavior in the last half-century has actually improved our mental health?

We're not talking about prescribing meds to kids who don't like doing homework. We're talking about mental health care for people with serious mental health issues. People who are delusional, incapable of caring for themselves, intent on hurting themselves and others. Yes, I believe professional intervention and care mitigates the societal effects of leaving these people to fend for themselves.

This guy has no criminal record and was a medical school student. Do you really think we would have detected a mental issue with him?

We don't know about this guy yet. But seems like it would've helped in a lot of other instances.

Then maybe we could save the mental health rhetoric for those instances. We don't even know if this guy had mental issues yet. He may just have been an angry, angry man.

Well, one could argue quite well that if you're willing to go out and kill a bunch of innocent people, you have mental health issues. But we know in cases like VT and Laughner, that they actually were diagnosed with mental health issues, allowed to wander the earth and able to purchase weapons. (hence my earlier statement that Psych professionals should be allowed to put their patients on a no gun list.)

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Huh. I always thought those doors had alarms. Not sure why.

Guess not.

 

[timschochet]

We don't even know if this guy had mental issues yet.

Yes we do.