At least 12 people are killed and dozens injured in a shooting
at a screening of the latest Batman film near Denver, Colorado.
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Denver cinema shooting Live
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Witnesses describe pandemonium New
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In pictures: US cinema shooting
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'We thought it was a prank' Watch
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20 July 2012
Last updated at 13:36 GMT
Amateur video posted on YouTube is said to show the scene immediately after the shooting
At
least 12 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a shooting at a
midnight cinema showing of the new Batman film near Denver, Colorado.
Witnesses said a man wearing a gas mask opened fire after
tossing a tear gas canister in the auditorium as movie-goers watched The
Dark Knight Rises.
A 24-year-old local man was arrested in a car park nearby in possession of a rifle, handgun and knife.
Another gun was recovered from the theatre, in the city of Aurora.
Police revised down the death toll from 14 earlier. They said about 50 people had been shot, including the deceased.
FBI sources named the gunman as Aurora resident James Holmes,
a white American. They said no terrorism link had been established.
Child casualties
US President Barack Obama has spoken of his shock at the
incident, which began at about 00:30 local time (06:30 GMT) at the
Century 16 cinema multiplex.
The suspect told police explosives were at his home.
Evan Dozier was in the cinema with his wife and children
Police chief Dan Oates told reporters that an apartment block
in the north of Aurora had been evacuated as they investigated that
information.
He said the shooting was "a horrific event".
"The shooting apparently went on for some time," he added.
Witnesses said the gunman opened fire during an action scene
in the summer blockbuster. There were scenes of chaos as movie-goers,
some dressed in costume as heroes and villains, scrambled for the exits.
Ten people were killed at the cinema and two others died later in hospital of their wounds.
Many ambulances attended the scene.
About 50 people were taken to four hospitals, some suffering
from the effects of chemical exposure from the canister thrown by
gunman.
The casualties included a four-month-old baby, who was released from hospital after treatment, and a six-year-old child.
One witness said a man in a bullet-proof vest and riot helmet
had been "slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing - picking
random people".
Panic
Another witness, Chayyiel Jackson, told the BBC: "During the
first action scene in the movie, on the right side a dude came in all
blacked out, with a black mask. At first we thought it was part of the
movie event.
Continue reading the main story
US mass shootings
- Nov 2009: US Army psychiatrist Maj Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly kills 13 people at the Fort Hood base in Texas.
- April 2009: Vietnamese immigrant Jiverly Wong, 41, shoots dead 13 people at a New York state immigration centre.
- March 2009: After compiling a "hit list", Michael McLendon, 28, kills 10 people, including his mother and uncle, in two Alabama towns.
- April 2007: South Korean student Seung-Hui Cho, 23, guns down 27 fellow students and five staff at Virginia Tech university.
- July 1999: Stock trader Mark Barton, 44,
shoots his wife and two children at his Atlanta, Georgia home then kills
nine in city's business district.
- April 1999: Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, kill 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
"He threw tear gas across the crowd and after that people started to panic. He pulled out a rifle and started shooting.
"I was wondering if this was real life or a dream."
It is reported that some of the shots fired went through the wall and may have hit people in an adjacent auditorium.
Another eyewitness, identified only as Pam, told the BBC: "He
fired a canister into the air. It shot it right into the air, then I
started to hear the bang, bang, bang of a gun.
"I crawled my way through the row. Luckily the exit was close
to where I was sitting so I got out pretty fast. I heard more shots as I
left."
Another eyewitness, Salina Jordan, 19, told the Denver Post
she had seen one girl shot in the cheek, and a girl who appeared to be
about nine years old with a gunshot wound to the stomach.
A witness in the next-door theatre told 9News he initially
thought live special effects had been laid on by the cinema after
hearing loud bangs and seeing smoke.
President Obama said in a statement that he and First Lady
Michelle Obama were "shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic
shooting".
He added: "As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family."
Plans for Friday night's red carpet premiere of the film on
the Champs-Elysees in Paris have been cancelled, while media interviews
with its stars have been called off.
copy http://www.bbc.co.uk
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