AURORA, Colo. — The first funeral for one of the victims of Friday’s mass shooting at a Colorado movie theatre, a 51- year- old father of four, was held on Wednesday.

Gordon Cowden, the oldest person killed, was a selfemployed real estate appraiser who had taken his teenage daughters to the midnight showing of when he was killed along with 11 others in a hail of bullets allegedly fired by 24- year- old James Eagan Holmes. His daughters escaped unharmed.

Cowden’s funeral, the first to occur since the July 20 massacre, took place Wednesday morning at Pathways Church in Denver.

Originally from Texas, where a separate memorial will be held in Austin later this week, he was described in a statement from his family as: “Loving father, outdoorsman and small business owner, Cowden was a true Texas gentleman that loved life and his family.

“A quick-witted world traveller with a keen sense of humor, he will be remembered for his devotion to his children and for always trying his best to do the right thing, no matter the obstacle.”

The funeral comes as 20 of the 58 people injured in the shooting remained hospitalized, seven in critical condition.

On Tuesday, a 21- year- old woman who escaped injury in the shooting, gave birth to a baby boy while her husband was in the same hospital in a medically induced coma with a gunshot wound to the head.

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