Shooting At Aurora, Colorado Movie Theater (1 Viewer)

[Apple Jack]

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.

You have to think they'd know by now if she was involved.

 

[netnalp]

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.

The same way they made laws to remove all cocain from private citizens?

Well, when THOSE laws were passed, most private citizens didn't have cocaine. In any case, we haven't done a great job of enforcing those laws, have we?

That's my point. If crazy people want to get guns and kill lots of people, they're going to do it whether strict gun laws are in place (e.g. Federal ban on all assault rifles) or not.

I agree with this.It's people that argue if some of the victims were armed they could have prevented this, that I don't agree with. If audience members were armed, I'd expect there would be more fatalities from stray bullets. Shooting at a paper target at a range doesn't come close to hitting a moving target, in a dark, smoke filled, crowded theater.

 

[Rayderr]

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

Yes we do.

I'm assuming he means diagnosed mental issues.

 

[identikit]

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

Yeah, I've never heard an alarm go off, and they get used just about every time I've been to the movies.

 

[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).

Military members were at the movie and were shot. No word on if they were killed, or "just" injured.

 

[CrossEyed]

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

I heard she wrote a book called Touched

Sorry if it was already posted. Didn't have time to read through 7 pages and thought others also might not.

 

[glvsav37]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

 

[OldBill]

Normally, I'm a CNN viewer during breaking news events, but their coverage has been pretty terrible this morning.

 

[Godsbrother]

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.

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.

It also ties in with the national healthcare debate as well. Many people with mental health problems are fine when taking their medication. However if they do not have comprehensive health insurance the cost of some of these drugs are outrageously expensive to the point of being unaffordable.Pretty much all health insurance providers view bi-polar, depression and schizophrenia as a "pre-existing" conditions so they are denied coverage.

 

[Rayderr]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

That's what I gathered. Hadn't heard anything about him giving up info.

 

[pantagrapher]

Nice cop out.

There's no need for this.

 

[Kanil]

Normally, I'm a CNN viewer during breaking news events, but their coverage has been pretty terrible this morning.

9 news is doing a pretty good job of it. Someone posted a link to the stream earlier.http://www.9news.com/video/9newsonline.aspx

 

[shadyridr]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

The first articles I read said he told the police he had explosives in his house and car. Maybe he didnt tell them they were booby trapped and wanted them killed.

 

[Mr. Soup Nazi]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

Especially considering the kind of equipment he was using in his attack.

 

[Rayderr]

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.

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.

It also ties in with the national healthcare debate as well. Many people with mental health problems are fine when taking their medication. However if they do not have comprehensive health insurance the cost of some of these drugs are outrageously expensive to the point of being unaffordable.

The people I've known that have had mental issues drop their medication because they think they are "all better now" or they don't like the side effects. Basically, there are many reasons why someone goes off medication.

 

[Kanil]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

That's what I gathered. Hadn't heard anything about him giving up info.

Early this AM on the radio (5:45am or so) they said that he told the police he had explosives in his apartment.

 

[OldBill]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

Maybe it is just the action movie fan in me, but...if you had booby trapped your apartment (knowing that they likely were going to be set off by law enforcement) would you tell them about it? Makes me think that maybe he told them about a few traps in order to have them miss, or overlook the "real" trap he wanted to set off. I hope the officers involved use extreme caution.

 

[ffldrew]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

The first articles I read said he told the police he had explosives in his house and car. Maybe he didnt tell them they were booby trapped and wanted them killed.

It's been a bit - but isn't how the Heath Ledger/Joker character worked - he was in custody and they went to somewhere that was booby trapped

 

[netnalp]

Assume the police are looking for the person mentioned in bold below?

Corbin Dates and Jennifer Seeger were sitting in the second row of the theater.

During the opening credits, Dates saw someone in the front row answer a phone call and walk to the emergency door in the front of the theater, he said.

From here.

And this part is just ...

The gunman moved through the crowd and stopped in front of Seeger.

He pointed a long rifle at her face and said nothing.

He shot at the person sitting behind her, Seeger said.

"I have no idea why he didn't shoot me," Seeger said.

Sounds like he had an accomplice.

Sounds like he placed the teargas canisters and/or guns outside the emergency door. Bought a ticket and entered the theater like a regular patron. Got up and opened the door to get his guns.

 

[StrikeS2k]

Nice cop out.

There's no need for this.

Then answer the question. From what I can tell this guy hasn't been on anyone's radar re: mental issues his entire life. How would we possibly have detected this? Give me one plausible scenario. How would it work? Are we going to do mental health evaluations of EVERY person in the country? If so, how frequently? And if we even slightly suspect they might be a danger how do we approach it if they haven't done anything wrong and don't want treatment? Are you going to force it on them? I just think it's a cop out to use this tragic situation to suggest that it could have been prevented had we "done more." Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

 

[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.

Apparently she is fine, just stupid.

 

[identikit]

Assume the police are looking for the person mentioned in bold below?

Corbin Dates and Jennifer Seeger were sitting in the second row of the theater.

During the opening credits, Dates saw someone in the front row answer a phone call and walk to the emergency door in the front of the theater, he said.

From here.

And this part is just ...

The gunman moved through the crowd and stopped in front of Seeger.

He pointed a long rifle at her face and said nothing.

He shot at the person sitting behind her, Seeger said.

"I have no idea why he didn't shoot me," Seeger said.

Sounds like he had an accomplice.

Sounds like he placed the teargas canisters and/or guns outside the emergency door. Bought a ticket and entered the theater like a regular patron. Got up and opened the door to get his guns.

Could very well be.The phone call part made me think that there could be an accomplice..

 

[Kanil]

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.

Apparently she is fine, just stupid.

Good.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

 

[OldBill]

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.

Apparently she is fine, just stupid.

Good to hear.

 

[netnalp]

Assume the police are looking for the person mentioned in bold below?

Corbin Dates and Jennifer Seeger were sitting in the second row of the theater.

During the opening credits, Dates saw someone in the front row answer a phone call and walk to the emergency door in the front of the theater, he said.

From here.

And this part is just ...

The gunman moved through the crowd and stopped in front of Seeger.

He pointed a long rifle at her face and said nothing.

He shot at the person sitting behind her, Seeger said.

"I have no idea why he didn't shoot me," Seeger said.

Sounds like he had an accomplice.

Wouldn't an alarm go off if the door is opened and if it was disabled, how come that wasn't found out in between screenings. I would think there would be a procedure to check those doors in between each movie.

It's not unusual for theaters to have a second exit in the front that isn't alarmed and is commonly used to leave the theater.

 

[Rayderr]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

Only James Holmes in Aurora, Colorado on facebook is this guy. No idea if that's him.

 

[pantagrapher]

Nice cop out.

There's no need for this.

Then answer the question. From what I can tell this guy hasn't been on anyone's radar re: mental issues his entire life. How would we possibly have detected this? Give me one plausible scenario. How would it work? Are we going to do mental health evaluations of EVERY person in the country? If so, how frequently? And if we even slightly suspect they might be a danger how do we approach it if they haven't done anything wrong and don't want treatment? Are you going to force it on them? I just think it's a cop out to use this tragic situation to suggest that it could have been prevented had we "done more." Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

You're apparently comfortable reaching conclusions this early on. I'm not. I'm not going to address the rest of your post because you're completely off the rails. Calm down.

 

[LarryAllen'sJockstrap]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

Don't think there is one yet. Honestly. I searched.

 

[Mr. Soup Nazi]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

Only James Holmes in Aurora, Colorado on facebook is this guy. No idea if that's him.

Nope. This guy is too old and I believe it has been confirmed that our James is white.

 

[Black Box]

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.

Apparently she is fine, just stupid.

Good to hear.

 

[OldBill]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

Only James Holmes in Aurora, Colorado on facebook is this guy. No idea if that's him.

That isn't him. The shooter is a white male.

 

[netnalp]

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.

Eyewitness testimony isn't nearly as reliable as people think.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

There is absolutely no way that any of us know enough to say one way or another at this point.

 

[Rayderr]

Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

There is absolutely no way that any of us know enough to say one way or another at this point.

It's not unreasonable to say that if a person is determined to kill random people, the will find a way to do it.

 

[StrikeS2k]

Nice cop out.

There's no need for this.

Then answer the question. From what I can tell this guy hasn't been on anyone's radar re: mental issues his entire life. How would we possibly have detected this? Give me one plausible scenario. How would it work? Are we going to do mental health evaluations of EVERY person in the country? If so, how frequently? And if we even slightly suspect they might be a danger how do we approach it if they haven't done anything wrong and don't want treatment? Are you going to force it on them? I just think it's a cop out to use this tragic situation to suggest that it could have been prevented had we "done more." Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

You're apparently comfortable reaching conclusions this early on. I'm not. I'm not going to address the rest of your post because you're completely off the rails. Calm down.

I haven't formed any conclusions. Well, I guess that this wasn't preventable would be one but I think that's an obvious one myself. I'm not off the rails at all. I'd just like you to support your position a little. I would like to know how we diagnose someone as mentally ill if they haven't done anything to suggest that they are. Is that really that tough of a question?

 

[Mr. Soup Nazi]

My cousin's husband is a detective for the Aurora PD. His only facebook post was "Bad night in Aurora. Proud of my co-workers." from 5 hours ago. I'm not sure if he was called in or not. I'm not close enough to him to give him a call, either.

 

[StrikeS2k]

Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

There is absolutely no way that any of us know enough to say one way or another at this point.

Okay, then please provide me with a plausible scenario where we are going to detect this type of action from someone who has never shown any indication of mental illness or violence?

 

[identikit]

ABC apologizes for claiming a Tea Party-James Holmes connection.

My link

What a bunch of idiots.

 

[ATC1]

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.

You can have a CCP, go frequently to the range, take self defense classes. Nothing will prepare you for the actual thing. Especially in a dark, confusing place with smoke and a gun fight in the back ground.I have a CCP, and there is one movie theater in town I do not go too because they have a no gun policy. With only one way up and down the isle if you are close to an isle, the only thing you can do is cover or get to the opposite side of the theater. It seems if you tried to eye this guy down to get a shot off, you were close enough to be an easy victim.

 

[pantagrapher]

Because in this case I don't think there was anything that would have prevented this.

There is absolutely no way that any of us know enough to say one way or another at this point.

It's not unreasonable to say that if a person is determined to kill random people, the will find a way to do it.

It's also not unreasonable to say they might be thwarted. To make an assertion either way is folly right now.

 

[belljr]

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.

Eyewitness testimony isn't nearly as reliable as people think.

I remember in High School we had some detective or someone in for a small assembly, not sure what it was for. We had maybe 100 people in the assembly. Me and another kid were in on a bit.When he said a certain phrase, that was my cue to stand up and yell at the guy. Then my friend was supposed to stand up threaten to kcik my ### and we raced out of the room.

The point he was making was to be sure when you see something etc etc. He got so many different versions of what was said, what we were wearing etc etc. I mean some of the kids were with me all day and still weren't sure what I was wearing.

Anyway it was just a little eye opening what they have to go through with their jobs.

:coolstory:

 

[Rayderr]

ABC apologizes for claiming a Tea Party-James Holmes connection.

My link

What a bunch of idiots.

You'd think they all would've learned after the Laughner/Tea Party connection proved to be untrue.

 

[jamny]

ABC apologizes for claiming a Tea Party-James Holmes connection.

My link

What a bunch of idiots.

Guess that scoop wasn't worth it for them.

 

[CrossEyed]

Maybe this has already been asked, but who takes a 4-month-old to a midnight movie?

 

[netnalp]

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.

I doubt he did. I would hope that its SOP that in cases like this, the police would use extreme caution when entering the suspect's residence. I think they found the traps during this type of discovery

I wouldn't be surprised of the apartment isn't booby trapped, but the guy says it is. Could have pipe bombs lying around though.

 

[Rayderr]

Maybe this has already been asked, but who takes a 4-month-old to a midnight movie?

No we haven't asked that. We have asked who takes a 3 month old to a midnight movie, tho.

 

[Godsbrother]

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.

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.

It also ties in with the national healthcare debate as well. Many people with mental health problems are fine when taking their medication. However if they do not have comprehensive health insurance the cost of some of these drugs are outrageously expensive to the point of being unaffordable.

The people I've known that have had mental issues drop their medication because they think they are "all better now" or they don't like the side effects. Basically, there are many reasons why someone goes off medication.

True but I know others that stop because they can't afford to pay the $500/month it costs to buy the drugs. If you don't think that cost is factor you are wrong.

 

[jamny]

Weird question, but has anyone posted a picture of the gunman yet? Facebook page? Myspace page?

FOX just said pictures expected shortly.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

This dude should be stoned in public to near death, healed then stoned again to near death repeatedly by the movie goers and their surviving family.