Denver, Colorado - A masked gunman killed 14 people and wounded 50 others when he opened fire on moviegoers at a showing of new Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” in the US city of Denver in the early hours of Friday, police said.
Denver's KOA radio station said a figure in a gas mask had opened fire at the showing in a mall in the suburb of Aurora and set off a smoke or tear gas bomb before shooting erupted.
“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference, adding that a suspect was in custody and that there was no evidence of a second gunman.
Dozens of police were at the scene, and the authorities evacuated the area while they checked if there was an explosive device in the area.
CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a “guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people”.
Police arrested a male suspect in the parking lot behind the theatre, police spokesman Frank Fania said. “He did not resist, he did not put up a fight,” he said. The suspect's apartment building has been evacuated.
The suspect was though to be in his early 20s, Fania said. He was carrying a knife, a rifle, a handgun when arrested and one other gun was recovered from the theatre, he said. The gunman was also wearing a bulletproof vest.
The gunman “appeared at the front of the screen” in the theatre and started shooting, Fania said.
A witness told CNN: “We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out.
“As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming.” He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask.
Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion. The theatre also filled with thick smoke, he said.
According to reports, another witness, Paul Otermat - who was inside the theatre - said he thought it was a “publicity stunt” for the film before the man threw tear gas at the audience and opened fire.
Otermat said: “Me and my girlfriend were sitting on the left side of the theatre. Front right there was an emergency exit and a man walked through there…I thought it was some sort of publicity stunt for a second .
“He threw tear gas over the crowd and as soon as he threw it I could feel it in my eye. Then he started firing shots into the crowd. Me and my girlfriend dragged ourselves out of the theatre.
“We ran through the lobby and we heard more shots. We ran into the parking lot and got into our car and drove off. When we got to the parking lot there were lots of cops already on the scene.”
Witnesses in other theatres were taken to the nearby Gateway High School to be debriefed by police.
Hayden Miller was in theatre 16. He told CNN: “We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on people screaming.
“Someone came on the PA and told everyone they needed to get out as soon as we got out saw everyone running and screaming.”
Speaking about the moment he heard the shots, he added: “As soon as we heard shots go off we figured it must be a louder part of the movie next to us. Nobody thought anything of it then 30 seconds later…
“As soon as they evacuated us we were hearing from friends inside Theatre 9 that he was wearing a gas mask and throwing tears gas at people. He wasn’t trying to let anyone out.
“We saw a couple of people hunched over leaving the theatre and ambulances were filled but they weren’t moving they were not going anywhere.”
Another witness told CNN that he watching saw a young girl being carried out of the theatre.
He said: “A cop came walking through the front door holding a little girl in his arms and she wasn’t moving. I don’t know whose little girl it was.
"My heart goes out to her family and I hope they are OK, I hope she is OK and recovers. But I heard another witness in my theatre she was on phone she told whoever she was talking to said she saw bullet holes in the little girl’s back.
“I can’t think of any person who would intentionally hurt a little girl. it makes me think she got caught in the crossfire.”
Fania said police received the first call about the shooting at 00:39 local time and responded within “a minute or two”.
Local hospitals were alerted to a “mass casualty incident”. Media reports said 10 people died at the scene and four died later in hospital.
A spokeswoman for Denver's Swedish Medical Center said three people had been admitted to that hospital with gunshot wounds and were in critical condition.
Another hospital, Denver Health, had received six wounded, one of whom was in critical condition, spokeswoman Kalena Wilkinson said. - Reuters, IOL