Theater Shooting: Do You Feel Safe?
After Friday's shooting in Colorado, do you feel safe at local cineplexes?
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Shortly after midnight, an armed subject opened fire inside a movie theater filled with people watching "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo.
The suspect has been reported by federal authorities to be 24-year-old James Holmes. After a police search of the theater complex, the 24-year-old was arrested, according to NBC News.
As of late morning, the death toll is widely reported to be 12. Dozens more people were rushed by police cars and ambulances to Denver-area hospitals.
The gunman, who was reported to be wearing a gas mask and ballistic vest, walked to the front of theater 16 and set off some sort of small explosive device. The device is suspected to be either a smoke or tear gas bomb, the Denver Post reported.
Police found a knife and several guns with the suspect when he was taken into custody, the paper said on its website.
In light of the shooting, some police departments across the nation will be increasing patrols at cineplexes this weekend.
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick released the following statement on the incident:
“I am deeply saddened by the news out of Aurora, Colorado this morning. This type of senseless violence represents the worst of humanity, and I am confident that the person responsible will swiftly be brought to justice. The thoughts and prayers of my entire family are with the victims and their friends, families and loved ones today."
Several YouTube videos that are purported to be from the scene of the shooting can be found in the media section of this story.
Will the shooting have an impact on your next theater experience? Tell us in the comments.
The Illuminati
12:09 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
I can't wait for all the gun control chest thumpers to start sounding off today. This was a terrible tragedy...and it has zero, zip, zilch to do with legally owned firearms! A person hell bent on killing will find tools to kill with. If you take guns away, he makes a fertilizer bomb at home and puts it in a back pack and goes into the theater. Maybe more people get killed then, who knows? The bottom line is this sad story emphasizes to me why gun control does not work. Do you think this psycho goes into that theater if he thinks 75% of those people are armed? Probably not. But the reality of the matter is that probably less than 1% of the population conceal carrys a firearm. I blame that on the stigma that the liberal media has attached to legal gun ownership and how anyone who carries is considered a right wing nut. I wonder if any of those poor dead people wish they had a firearm on them yesterday? The gun loses its ability to menace when everyone is carrying. Look at Israel...probably 75% of that society carries a firearm on them. This is why terrorists have resorted to bombings instead of shooting because shooting would be useless,they would be outgunned. This is why Chicago is falling into the tenth level of hell. Its virtually impossible to own or carry a firearm there and yet their murder and gun violence rate is through the roof. Its because the bad guys are the only ones with the guns!! Gun control doesn't work!
James Boyle
8:58 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Right, because crossfire in a darkened movie theater would not have produced more injured bystanders.
Robert Severn
11:35 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Absolutely true - but you'll never convince some people. Here's a point: If you are anxious to break laws against murder, would you worry about breaking a gun law?
Gun laws guarantee that only law-breakers have weapons.
Sandy LKR
10:27 am on Sunday, July 22, 2012
I totally agree. Seems obvious enough to us, why can't others understand this.
Tom Sofield
4:49 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
The AMC theater chain has now banned movie-goers in full custom: http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/colorado-shooting-batman-theaters-police-security/
Nora Jemali
6:31 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Thanks for posting this story Tom. I can't watch the videos because its too disturbing. My heart goes out to the families involved. So Sad.
RESQMOM
6:39 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
While we do have the right to bear arms and the responsible do not go around shooting innocent people, I don't understand when anyone goes into a gun shop and wants assault rifles regardless if they are registered or not, that no red flags are raised.
Robert Severn
11:39 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
"Assault Rifle" is a meaningless term. Any semi-automatic rifle can be labeled as an assault rifle, including most hunting rifles. Nobody walks into a gun shop and says "I want an assault rifle".