At least a dozen are killed in Colorado theater shooting

The nation mourns in the aftermath of the Friday shooting that left 12 dead and dozens more injured.

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July 23, 2012

James Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder and could also face counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from a mass shooting Friday in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured dozens of others.

RJ Sangosti / AP

July 23, 2012

Holmes, left, appears in Arapahoe County District Court with defense attorney Tamara Brady in Centennial, Colo.

RJ Sangosti / AP

July 21, 2012

Gary Ford, an Army ROTC member, prays with Southeast Christian Church members Danny Lanskey, Julian Maestas, Matt Burton and Jonathan Burton across the street from the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo., the day after a gunman killed 12 people and injured 58 others during a midnight screening at the theater. Ford worked with one of the shooting victims, Alex Sullivan, and knows many of the members of the military who were killed and injured.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

July 21, 2012

Candles still burn at a makeshift memorial behind the movie theater. About 350 people turned out for an overnight vigil Friday near the theater in the Denver suburb. The shooting occurred at about 12:30 a.m. Friday, just after the midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises,” the latest Batman movie, began.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

July 20, 2012

People hold hands as they pray during the vigil.

Ted S. Warren / AP

July 20, 2012

Phil Martinez, an Aurora resident, leads a prayer during the candlelight vigil.

Ted S. Warren / AP

A written message that begins “To all the innocent souls <span>. . .</span> this is for you,” joins a display of candles, flags and other tributes to the shooting victims.

July 20, 2012

A written message that begins “To all the innocent souls . . . this is for you,” joins a display of candles, flags and other tributes to the shooting victims.

Ted S. Warren / AP

July 20, 2012

Marietta Perkins falls to her knees in sorrow and prayer at the vigil.

Robert Ray / AP

July 20, 2012

Two women mourn the loss of a relative killed in Friday’s shooting.

Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images

July 20, 2012

People grieve during a vigil for victims behind the theater where the shooting occurred. About 20 pastors led the vigil for about 350 people, some hugging and crying. A sign read, “7/20. Gone Not Forgotten.”

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

July 20, 2012

Members of the Colorado Rockies baseball team bow their heads as they observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Colorado theater shooting before the start of a game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego. The gunman, identified by police as 24-year-old James Holmes, is a California native and his mother reportedly lives in San Diego.

Denis Poroy / AP

July 20, 2012

People gather at the makeshift memorial for the victims of Friday’s shooting.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

July 21, 2012

Flags around the Washington Monument fly at half-staff. President Obama on Friday ordered that the nation’s banner be lowered in honor of the victims of Friday’s shooting.

J. David Ake / AP

July 21, 2012

A law enforcement officer places a silver remote device on a rooftop, across from the Aurora apartment complex where James Holmes, the suspect in Friday’s shooting, resides. On Saturday, bomb experts were carefully working their way through booby traps, incendiary devices tied to tripwires, in the apartment.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

July 20, 2012

An Aurora police officer, right, assists a woman carry her belongings from her home near Holmes’s apartment. Police evacuated the homes around the apartment because they believed it had explosive devices inside.

Alex Brandon / AP

July 20, 2012

Tom Sullivan holds a photograph of his son, Alex, outside Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo., as he pleads with the news media to help him find his son, Alex, who went to the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the theater where the shooting occurred.

RJ Sangosti / Denver Post via AP

July 20, 2012

After finding out that Alex Sullivan had been killed in the shooting, his family released a statement, saying in part: “Alex was smart, funny, and above all loved dearly by his friends and family. Today was his 27th birthday.”

Barry Gutierrez / AP

July 20, 2012

Police examine the car of shooting suspect James Holmes behind the theater where a gunman opened fire on moviegoers. Police arrested Holmes near his white Hyundai, which was parked right behind the theater.

John Wark / Reuters

July 20, 2012

Police look Holmes’s car. Authorities say they recovered two Glock pistols, a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and a Smith and Wesson AR-15 assault weapon.

Aaron Ontiveroz / Denver Post via AP

July 20, 2012

An FBI forensics expert makes notes on a gas mask labeled as the first piece of evidence in a criminal investigation.

Karl Gehring / Denver Post via AP

July 20, 2012

The Arapahoe County bomb squad suits up to enter the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Police believed that there might be explosives in the building where Friday’s shooting occurred.

Andy Cross / Denver Post via AP

July 20, 2012

James Holmes, 24, the suspect in the Friday morning shooting, is a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus, officials there said.

/ University of Colorado

July 20, 2012

People react outside Gateway High School, a few blocks from the scene of the shootings. Police brought witnesses to the shooting to the school to gather their statements. The premiere of the highly anticipated Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” drew a large audience to the Century 16 theater where the shooting occurred.

Evan Semin / Reuters

July 20, 2012

President Obama takes a moment of silence for the events in Colorado. Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, his GOP rival in the 2012 election, expressed condolences, canceled campaign events Friday and suspended campaign advertising in Colorado.

Alan Diaz / AP

July 20, 2012

A small group prays outside Gateway High School.

Barry Gutierrez / AP

July 20, 2012

Police use a video camera to look inside the Aurora, Colo., apartment of shooting suspect James Holmes. Police converged on Holmes’s apartment, in a modest neighborhood about five miles from the theater, about 2 a.m., after Holmes indicated there were explosives there.

Ed Andrieski / AP

July 20, 2012

An Aurora police bomb squad robot is deployed to search a suspect's car behind the Century 16 theater following the shooting.

Evan Semon / Reuters

July 20, 2012

People gather outside the Century 16 movie theater.

Karl Gehring / Denver Post via AP

July 20, 2012

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates talks to media at Aurora Mall.

Ed Andrieski / AP

July 20, 2012

Aurora police respond to the shooting. Aurora is on Denver’s east side and is Colorado’s third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defense Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as the Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital.

Ed Andrieski / AP

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