Gunman kills 12 in Colorado movie theater

[Roadhawg]

WTF is wrong with people...

(CNN) -- A heavily armed gunman tossed tear gas into the darkness of an Aurora, Colorado movie theater Friday and then sprayed the audience with gunfire during an early morning screening of the new Batman movie, killing 12 and wounding 38 others, authorities said.

One of the injured was just 3 months old, according to hospital workers.

Police arrested a man believed to be the shooter in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN. The suspect was not immediately identified. Police said he was a man in his 20s from Aurora.

"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/col...ing/index.html

[BBatesokc]

And most theaters don't allow conceal carry - let alone open carry. Like fish in a barrel.

[Roadhawg]

I just can't figure out why somebody would do something like this. There's been a lot of cases lately where some nut job has opened fire on a group of people. If you hate the world that bad then just go live in the boonies or off yourself, not a bunch of innocent people or kids. I'm not sure how much a concealed carry would have helped. A dark theater and mass panic, might have caused more injuries or deaths

[Maynard]

DARK KNIGHT MOURNING

[wallbreaker]

Sick sick sick sick sick. There's no way to put this to words...

And I think it makes it, is that this happened so (geographically) close to Columbine.

[Martin]

ok... i know i'm looking at the small issue while ignoring the big story... but who takes a 3-month old baby to a midnight movie premiere? -M

[Just the facts]

I just can't figure out why somebody would do something like this.

Don't try to figure out the logic of crazy people. Sadly, we have a society that glorifies violence (see Batman Rising – people paying to see other people killed and tortured because it is 'entertaining') and violent people are empowered to become even more violent.

[Just the facts]

ok... i know i'm looking at the small issue while ignoring the big story... but who takes a 3-month old baby to a midnight movie premiere? -M

The same type that took the 6 year old and 9 year old. We have a screwed up society that loves their violence. I wish more people would say to themselves - you know, maybe we shouldn't watch this sort of stuff because it is kind of having a bad effect on us as a people. Not to worry Hollywood, Batman Rising will still make $200 million.

[OKCTalker]

And most theaters don't allow conceal carry - let alone open carry. Like fish in a barrel.

A conceal carry instructor told me you might get fined if you took a weapon into a prohibited place, but no-one would know unless you produced it to counter a threat to life. At that point who is going to complain if you carried where prohibited?

[Just the facts]

A conceal carry instructor told me you might get fined if you took a weapon into a prohibited place, but no-one would know unless you produced it to counter a threat to life. At that point who is going to complain if you carried where prohibited?

See George Zimmerman, or better yet Bernard Goetz.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz

Bernhard Hugo Goetz (born November 7, 1947) is an American man best known for shooting four alleged muggers on a New York City Subway train,[2][3][4][5] resulting in his conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. He came to symbolize New Yorkers' frustrations with the high crime rates of the early 1980s. The incident occurred on a No. 2 train in Manhattan on December 22, 1984. It sparked a nationwide debate on race and crime in major cities, and the legal limits of self-defense.[4]

Goetz fired an unlicensed revolver five times, seriously wounding all four. He was dubbed the "Subway Vigilante" by the New York press, and was both praised and vilified in the media and in public opinion.

He surrendered to police nine days later and was eventually charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses.

[BoulderSooner]

The same type that took the 6 year old and 9 year old. We have a screwed up society that loves their violence. I wish more people would say to themselves - you know, maybe we shouldn't watch this sort of stuff because it is kind of having a bad effect on us as a people. Not to worry Hollywood, Batman Rising will still make $200 million.

i have much less issue taking the 3 month old to the movie than i do the 6 and 9 year old

[Just the facts]

i have much less issue taking the 3 month old to the movie than i do the 6 and 9 year old

Then you are missing the bigger picture. No worries though, millions (of all ages) will go see "Violent Death Part 2" when it comes out. After all, it’s entertaining.

In case no one has figured it out - I am trying to point out that millions of people see violence (and the more graphic the better) as entertainment. We even give awards to the makeup guy that does the best job of making it look real.

[BBatesokc]

A conceal carry instructor told me you might get fined if you took a weapon into a prohibited place, but no-one would know unless you produced it to counter a threat to life. At that point who is going to complain if you carried where prohibited?

I guarantee you produce a legally carried gun in a prohibited place - regardless if you are countering a deadly threat - you will face charges. You might get a slap on then wrist, but you will most likely lose your future ability to carry a weapon in public.

A DA would be a fool not to charge someone in that case.

[onthestrip]

I guarantee you produce a legally carried gun in a prohibited place - regardless if you are countering a deadly threat - you will face charges. You might get a slap on then wrist, but you will most likely lose your future ability to carry a weapon in public.

A DA would be a fool not to charge someone in that case.

I have my concealed license but never asked this question when I was taking the class. Any idea of what type of charge you'd receive if you did take your concealed gun into a prohibited place and take out a guy like this? I know the public would praise you but legally it would be a different story. Has this scenario ever happened.

[kevinpate]

People take wee ones to late late movies for a couple of reasons
(a) sitter cancelled
(b) sitter not affordable
(c) poop for brains
(d) any combo of the above

[BBatesokc]

I have my concealed license but never asked this question when I was taking the class. Any idea of what type of charge you'd receive if you did take your concealed gun into a prohibited place and take out a guy like this? I know the public would praise you but legally it would be a different story. Has this scenario ever happened.

This is one reason I got my conceal and carry and my CLEET license - more flexibility on where I can carry.

I'd have to lookup the exact charge but probably two or three violations would apply. Most likely you'd simply face the loss of your C&C license and some sort of deferred sentence.

[kevinpate]

I'm neither a conceal carry opponent nor an open carry opponent. All the same, if I'm in row 8, and a nut job storms in at the front of the theater, I have no interest in one or more folk from row 13 or further back trying to take down a moving target when my friends and I are twixt and tween the muzzle(s) and the nut job target.

[Lord Helmet]

What's really scary is how carefully planned out this was. Local news (I'm in Denver) are reporting that the shooters apartment is so booby trapped that it could take days to get in safely. The shooter also would have to have bought his ticket to the theater over a week ago as theaters have been sold out for the midnight showings of the move for a while now. Then there's how he did it...tear gassing the place to cop's couldn't get in to do anything without a gas mask. I was listening to the police communications from during the shooting. They were literally screaming at dispatch to get them some gas masks so they could get into the theater.

[Just the facts]

The shooter also would have to have bought his ticket to the theater over a week ago as theaters have been sold out for the midnight showings of the move for a while now.

I don't think he had a ticket. He came in through the emergency exit. Clearly though he had no intention of ever returning to his apartment.

[BBatesokc]

I'm neither a conceal carry opponent nor an open carry opponent. All the same, if I'm in row 8, and a nut job storms in at the front of the theater, I have no interest in one or more folk from row 13 or further back trying to take down a moving target when my friends and I are twixt and tween the muzzle(s) and the nut job target.

He wasn't moving quickly from the reports we are hearing and even managed to stop once or twice to reload. I'll take a citizen trying to save me over simply hoping he doesn't get around to killing me or my wife.

[Maynard]

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I was listening to the police communications from during the shooting. They were literally screaming at dispatch to get them some gas masks so they could get into the theater.

Published on Jul 20, 2012 by firefighterdispatch


Aurora movie theater shooting Police Audio 7/20/12
Audio used under a creative common license from Radioreference.com

[FritterGirl]

The same type that took the 6 year old and 9 year old. We have a screwed up society that loves their violence. I wish more people would say to themselves - you know, maybe we shouldn't watch this sort of stuff because it is kind of having a bad effect on us as a people. Not to worry Hollywood, Batman Rising will still make $200 million.

You are acting as if this were a new phenomenon. It isn't. We have a gun-loving culture, pure and simple. And our love for violence, including "violent" sports (boxing, football) has been around for centuries. As the rowdy pioneers of this world, we have created a society that idolizes a "shoot 'em up" mentality. It's not just Hollywood that drives that. We buy young children "G.I. Joe" toys and have them go out and play "soldier." We teach children that "killing the bad guy" is always the best solution. We develop bullies by teaching children that "first is always best" and that if "you don't win, you are a loser." We teach children that people who are "different" (skin color, sexual orientation, mental disabilities, different accents, different religions) are inherently bad, and stand by willingly when those who are "different" are readily mocked and degraded as not being worthy of our society. We cling to an "eye for an eye" mentality that wants to vilify people and their actions before we look at the larger picture. Hollywood and the gaming industry have certainly contributed greatly to this, but our cultural love for violence dates many years prior, and unless there is a monumental shift away from our staunch individualism, and we allow ourselves to look at society in a broader stroke, this will continue, and it will not be the worst incident.

Guns are not the answer, even those held by responsible citizens with multiple certifications.

[wallbreaker]

Kum ba yah...
(wait, I thought we were starting the drum circle now)...

[Lord Helmet]

I don't think he had a ticket. He came in through the emergency exit. Clearly though he had no intention of ever returning to his apartment.

There was a report I read earlier that stated a witness saw someone take a phone call near the front of the theater, then leave out the emergency exit. Moments later the shooter came in. Of course it's too early to do anything but speculate at this point.

[BoulderSooner]

You are acting as if this were a new phenomenon. It isn't. We have a gun-loving culture, pure and simple. And our love for violence, including "violent" sports (boxing, football) has been around for centuries. As the rowdy pioneers of this world, we have created a society that idolizes a "shoot 'em up" mentality. It's not just Hollywood that drives that. We buy young children "G.I. Joe" toys and have them go out and play "soldier." We teach children that "killing the bad guy" is always the best solution. We develop bullies by teaching children that "first is always best" and that if "you don't win, you are a loser." We teach children that people who are "different" (skin color, sexual orientation, mental disabilities, different accents, different religions) are inherently bad, and stand by willingly when those who are "different" are readily mocked and degraded as not being worthy of our society. We cling to an "eye for an eye" mentality that wants to vilify people and their actions before we look at the larger picture. Hollywood and the gaming industry have certainly contributed greatly to this, but our cultural love for violence dates many years prior, and unless there is a monumental shift away from our staunch individualism, and we allow ourselves to look at society in a broader stroke, this will continue, and it will not be the worst incident.

Guns are not the answer, even those held by responsible citizens with multiple certifications.

garbage