A black-clad gunman in body armor shot 71 people at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" near Denver on Friday, killing 12 of them..
...Authorities said the gunman appeared at the front of the theater at 12:39 a.m., about 20 minutes into the film, and released two canisters of gas. Witnesses told reporters that the gunfire erupted [b]during a shootout scene[/b]..... The suspect was found in possession of a helmet, a gas mask, a tactical vest, throat and groin protectors and black tactical gloves, authorities said.... Ammunition was found in the suspect's car, police said. The gunman had four weapons: two 40-caliber Glock handguns, a Remington 870 single-barrel pump shotgun and a Smith & Wesson AR-15 assault-style rifle. Three of the weapons were found in the suspect's white Hyundai parked at the back entrance to the theater; one of the handguns was found in the theater.
LINK: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/20/12850048-very-deranged-gunman-shoots-71-killing-12-at-dark-knight-rises-screening-in-aurora-colorado?lite
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The motion named Lynne Fenton for the first time as defense attorneys sought to gain access to a package James Holmes had mailed to her prior the July 20 mass shooting, which also wounded 58 people. Reports surfaced this week that Holmes — who recently dropped out of the University of Colorado — had sent a notebook to a university psychiatrist that included details and drawings of his plans to kill people. There were conflicting reports about whether the package reached the school in time to potentially prevent the massacre, but officials remained tight-lipped due to a strict gag order imposed by the judge overseeing the case. However, defense attorneys argued that someone had leaked information about the package to the media, thus undercutting Holmes’s right to a fair trial. “The government’s disclosure of this confidential and privileged information has placed Mr. Holmes’ constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial by an impartial jury at serious jeopardy,” the attorneys wrote. In a preview of likely battles to come, the defense lawyers also argued that the contents of the package should not be used as evidence because communications between Holmes and Fenton were “protected.” The filing said Holmes was Fenton’s “psychiatric patient.” Fenton teaches at the University of Colorado’s medical school and heads student mental health services there, in addition to conducting research in schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. But the document did not indicate how long Holmes had been seeing Fenton or whether she was treating him for mental illness. Prosecutors rebuffed the defense motion, arguing that news stories about the package contained significant “factual errors” and that there was no evidence the government was responsible for the leaks. The reporting mistakes may indicate that reporters are “getting information from hoaxers, fraudsters or maybe from nobody at all by creating fake ‘law enforcement sources’ out of whole cloth,” prosecutors wrote. They also indicated that a FoxNews.com report that the package contained a notebook “full of details” about the suspected gunman’s plans for a massacre was incorrect. Holmes, who was studying neuroscience in a doctoral program at the University of Colorado Denver, is expected to be formally charged at his next court hearing on Monday. Judge William Sylvester ordered a hearing on the defense motions to also be held on that day. Separately, attorneys for 21 US news organizations filed a motion asking the Sylvester to reverse his order to seal court records in the case. The judge has ordered prosecutors and the defense to file their motions under seal, and ordered the University of Colorado to withhold records that concern Holmes. Holmes gained access to the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado outside Denver via a fire exit shortly after the screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” began and threw two canisters of noxious gas into the auditorium, witnesses said. After firing one round directly into the air with a pump-action shotgun, he began shooting people at random with a military-style assault rifle capable of firing 50 to 60 rounds a minute. Authorities say Holmes — who had dyed his hair a reddish orange — claimed he was the Joker, Batman’s sworn enemy in the comic book series that inspired director Christopher Nolan’s film trilogy, which features British-born actor Christian Bale as “the caped crusader.” He gave himself up outside the cinema, still clad in the body armor witnesses described the gunman wearing. Authorities said Holmes booby-trapped his apartment with the aim of killing anyone who went outside, likely targeting police and first responders. It was days before neighbors were allowed back in the three-story building. Holmes, 24, is being held in solitary confinement at the Arapahoe County Detention Center and could face the death penalty if convicted, although Colorado has only executed one person since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. +++++++++++++++++++++
Aurora shooting brings mental health back to the forefront ......Both the Virginia Tech shooter and the individual who shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and others in Tucson had mental health records which should have precluded them from owning a firearm. I feel certain that as the media and investigators pick apart this suspect’s life and history, the same information will emerge. When authorities contacted the mother of the alleged Aurora shooting suspect, her response was “you have the right guy”.....Never mind the guns. There’s no reason to provoke the NRA and its members, some of whom might be those classified as mentally or emotionally unstable, into a panic for no reason. Guns did not kill 12 people in the Aurora shooting Friday night. A mentally unstable individual who never should have been able to legally buy one, or three, did. COMMENTARY LINK: http://www.examiner.com/article/aurora-shooting-brings-mental-health-back-to-the-forefront
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......The gun control debate took center stage after student Seung-Hui Cho, shot 32 people to death at Virginia Tech in 2007. Liberals said people with a history of mental health issues shouldn't be able to buy guns. Arguing that Cho's victims would have been able to defend themselves had they been packing, right-wingers pushed to allow students to carry weapons onto campuses......A 2008 study found that 6% of Americans suffer from serious mental illnesses, which resulted in an estimated economic loss of $200 billion annually in lost earnings. (This doesn't include the one-quarter of the population who have less serious, diagnosable conditions.) Sixty percent of people with mental illness seek no treatment whatsoever. It's easy to see why: Americans with limited funds must make do with a lame hodgepodge of options when they feel themselves going off the rails: suicide prevention hotlines, support groups, and absurdly low allocations of shrink visits under group insurance plans.... COMMENTARY LINK: http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/25/12949019-gun-control-talk-is-cheap-a-sane-mental-health-system-is-not?lite
Unfortunately MORE coming......
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