12 dead, at least 50 injured in shooting at Colorado movie theater

A masked gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater showing the new Batman movie early Friday morning, leaving 12 people dead and 50 wounded, according to police and local media. Children are among the injured, officials said.

The shooting came minutes after the 12:05 a.m. premiere showing of the widely anticipated “The Dark Knight Rises.” A suspect is in custody. The Denver Post said the suspect is 24 years old.

An eyewitness told The Times that the gunman “busted in” through a door near the front of the screen in Theater No. 9 at the Century 16 in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. The gunman then “threw a canister across the theater,” unleashing gas, “then started shooting,” the witness said.

Photos: ‘Dark Knight Rises’ shooting

He said he saw a man two seats over shot in the head. “I can’t get his image out of my head,” the witness wrote in a message. The victim was wearing a shirt with the Joker’s face on it, the witness said, and after he was shot, he slumped back in his chair, his face covered in blood.

The witness declined to be identified.

Some of the bullets pierced into the adjacent theater, No. 8, and injured people, Denver’s NBC affiliate, 9News, reported. A Denver Post reporter and 9News said the youngest gunshot victims being treated at University Hospital is 3 months old.

“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Daniel J. Oates told reporters during a news conference carried live by local TV stations. There was no evidence of a second gunman, Oates said.

The shooting occurred just after hundreds of moviegoers had lined up for hours, excited to watch the first showing of the much-anticipated Batman movie.

9News said the gas made it difficult for spectators to escape, and also appeared to make it difficult for police to initially enter the theater.

Quoting authorities and witnesses, 9News reported that the gunman wore a riot helmet and a bulletproof vest and was dressed in black, entering the theater minutes after the movie began and releasing the gas canister. Witnesses said they heard a hissing sound and saw smoke.

The suspect was found outside the theater holding a rifle and a handgun, the TV station reported, quoting police.

9News reported that the suspect indicated to police that his apartment building might contain explosives, and authorities were evacuating and searching that structure.

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