Memories of fatal shooting remain at Colorado theater
AURORA, Colo. — Gunshots rang out in the auditorium formerly known as Theater 9. And screams. More weapons blasted. But on this Friday night, when the doors swung open, there were no bodies, no shooter, no horror.
Just a small, happy crowd leaving the latest summer blockbuster, chattering about the prehistoric villains of “Jurassic World,” fictional monsters that stayed on the big screen where they belonged.
On July 20, 2012, at a midnight showing of another summer blockbuster, “The Dark Knight Rises,” James Holmes burst into Theater 9, guns at the ready.
Holmes slaughtered 12 moviegoers and wounded 70 others that night. Most who survived have testified against him over the last two months in a lengthy tri- al that could send him to Colorado’s death chamber. He acknowledges that he planned and carried out the rampage but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
The theater has since been remodeled, but memories of the shooting are never far away.
“It’s like every time we come see a movie, we have to watch our back,” said Marychris Sept, 17, who was trying to decide between “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out.” “It feels like it could happen again.”
Hours earlier, the prosecution had rested its case against Holmes in Division 201 of the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Last week, defense attorneys began presenting evidence to prove why the gunman, now 27, should not be found guilty of 166 charges.
A scale model of Theater 9 has been parked between the witness stand and the jury box in Division 201. Its 421 blue seats are pocked with white, the pale markers showing where bullets tore through people and fabric. Witnesses have used the model while testifying to show jurors were sitting.
For the most part, changes to the multiplex in this Denver suburb seem largely cosmetic. The theater’s
where
they footprint and layout remain the same. A single word was added to its name when the movie house reopened six months after the shooting; the former Century 16 is now the Century Aurora 16.
Theater 9 has been transformed into an XD venue, also known as Extreme Digital Cinema. Its bigger screen has reduced the number of available seats to 354, all new.
If you did not know which auditorium was shot up, you would be hardpressed to find out from anyone working here. Ask a ticket taker and the squishy reply will be some version of: “Theater 9? I don’t know. I just started here.”
Twenty federal lawsuits representing 40 victims or family members have been filed against Cinemark, the theater’s parent company. The cases have been consolidated, and the civil trial is set to begin July11, 2016. The company, which did not respond to requests for comment, has also been sued in state court.
maria.laganga@tribpub. com