Black-clad gunman in mass shooting at Batman movie

Saturday-Sunday, July 21-22, 2012

dompost.co.nz A MASKED gunman opened fire at a midnight session of The Dark Knight Rises in the US state of Colorado last night, shooting dozens of people.

The movie theatre in the Denver suburb of Aurora was packed with Batman fans for a midnight screening.

Police said the gunman, clad all in black and wearing a gas mask, riot helmet and bulletproof vest, shot dead at least 14 people and injured as many as 50 others.

‘‘Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister,’’ police chief Dan Oates said. ‘‘They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire.’’

A heavily armed suspect, aged 24, was arrested in a parking lot. He was carrying a knife, a rifle, and a handgun. Another gun was recovered from the theatre.

‘‘He did not resist, he did not put up a fight,’’ police said. There was no indication of motive.

Authorities evacuated the area while they checked for explosives. The man’s apartment building was also evacuated after he told police he had explosives there.

One witness who was in the adjoining theatre at the Century 16 complex said he saw bullets coming through the wall and people were being hit. ‘‘People stood up and started checking themselves, and I heard moaning like they were in pain. That’s when I started to get worried.

‘‘Then someone told us we shouldn’t go outside because there was a gunman there.’’

Hayden Miller said he was in a different theatre in the complex. ‘‘We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots, little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming.

‘‘My friend was in the theatre next door and the man was wearing a gas mask, throwing tear gas at people and he wasn’t letting anyone out.’’

Another witness said he spoke to a woman in the theatre who described the gunman. ‘‘He kicked through the door, he was in a riot helmet, had a bulletproof vest on, he was completely covered in all black with guns. After that she saw he was holding a shotgun.’’

She and her friend ducked down and crawled to the door. ‘‘When she turned around all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing, just picking random people.’’

The wounded were taken to several hospitals, all with gunshot wounds ranging from minor to critical.

Ten people died in the cinema, and four in hospital. A 6-year-old girl and a 3-month-old baby were among the wounded.