The Batman Premiere Massacre at Denver.

MagicMasher said:
@Mockingjay: Columbine?
Click to expand...

I'm glad your family is safe. It'd be devistating to hear if one of them got injured. D:

Columbine is the school shooting right? I see similarities with them because of how much work was put into it for the shooting to be a success. While the batman massacre was much more thought out, it seems like he studied Columbine for tips as he planned this. there are some similarities.
 
MagicMasher said:
I had some family who were in Aurora at the time and were going to go see the premier at that theater. They decided last minute not to go due to various circumstances. I'm very glad that they were not there. Today would have been exceptionally horrible if they had been. :sad3:

I feel for the families of the victims. And fuck the guy who did this. Really? You're going to try and be a copycat of a villain in Batman? This world nowadays is stupid. Killed innocent lives because he wanted to be like someone. Jesus.
Click to expand...

Thank goodness they decided not to go! And yeah, the shooter is obviously sick in the head. I can't even imagine why someone would think it would be a good idea to dress up as the Joker and go to a Batman premiere showing and start shooting up the place. It boggles my mind how insane people can be.
 
I didnt mean to say that it didnt also happen in other countries.. But I think I can confortably say that America has the highest rank of those type of psychotic crimes. Those kind of batshit insane people with extreme mental disorders. Nevertheless it might just be the media but thats my impression.
 
Omegadruid said:
I didnt mean to say that it didnt also happen in other countries.. But I think I can confortably say that America has the highest rank of those type of psychotic crimes. Those kind of batshit insane people with extreme mental disorders. Nevertheless it might just be the media but thats my impression.
Click to expand...

America can have that reputation, but also a lot of action movies about insane killers (and movies in general) are also set in/ filmed at/ filmed by Americans. That's probably not relevant here (unless it is, if he really was emulating a character like The Joker), but there is a way that America can be portrayed that suggests that more people do this sort of thing.

But like you say, it is isn't just America at all. People can go insane and flip out, even plan an attack on some misguided principles, anywhere in the world.

The 2011 massacre at Norway, for example, was one very horrific example.

There have been others in other countries too. Even in Britain this has occurred.

We just associate it more with America. I guess because the US is such a large country, people can legally carry guns, and there are famous text-book case massacres that have happened in America. It's possibly partly down to the US dominating the media, but really any massacre like this would be world news anyway, regardless of where it happened.
 
Ye I remember the one from Norway.. But tell me about another case like that in Norway.. Im sure it happened a long time ago but in the USA cases like that happen every year or every few years. Im not trying to get into an argument here but thats how I see things. Also I have a theory on this. Maybe its because of the big amount of advertisement and importance given to things such as Batman. America is a place were cults related to many things occur very often more than in other countries maybe because of the constant RIGHT IN YOUR FACE publicity and such thus more easily influencing the minds of the people that have the predisposed mindset to turn out to be batshit crazy. What I just said might aswell be bullshit but to me it seems like that the environment over at the US is more proper to "give birth" to people like this retarded guy who massacred innocents for no reason in the cinema. Also perhaps to other psychological factors but regarding those im not qualified enough to be stating anything regarding that matter.

Edit: I remember watching a documentary regarding American Kids worshipping ronald macdonald..its also one of the reasons I firmly believe what I stated above. Oh and also the gun law..What a fucking stupid law tbh. It sure as hell seems like a primitive and savage law. I hope Im not living in misconceptions, correct me if Im wrong.
 
The gun cult(ure) in America is ridiculous. Already cult members are saying that if people in the theater had been armed, this wouldn't have happened. Which is bullshit on so many different levels.

Chalk another 12 up for the second amendment!
 
Insanity Wolf said:
The gun cult(ure) in America is ridiculous. Already cult members are saying that if people in the theater had been armed, this wouldn't have happened. Which is bullshit on so many different levels.

Chalk another 12 up for the second amendment!
Click to expand...


Most cases are like this, I agree. However, it also gives a legal means to save your own ass at times. I have a few friends who likely wouldn't be around still if it were not for the law.

Not saying the numbers are justifiable, just that it's not completely ridiculous. It also doesn't help that most legal gun owners lack the required sense to use them appropriately.


I'm not sure, as I haven't seen in anything I read, were his guns legal?
 
His gun should not have been legal. He was using an AK-47. A gun that wasn't legal for purchase until, I believe, the George W. Bush administration made it legal to purchase.

I'm not against the second amendment. But there's a difference between a gun used for self defense, and a gun that is used in wars.
 
Is this to imply handguns are not used in wars?


Regardless of laws, do you honestly believe in a place like America, he would have cared or been limited in options of firepower? Very unlikely. Legal or illegal, people get what people want. Laws would not have stopped this shooting.
 
Pockets said:
Is this to imply handguns are not used in wars?


Regardless of laws, do you honestly believe in a place like America, he would have cared or been limited in options of firepower? Very unlikely. Legal or illegal, people get what people want. Laws would not have stopped this shooting.
Click to expand...

No, but there's a huge difference between a AK-47 and a hand gun :lew:

And I'm not saying that laws against guns would prevent him from obtaining a gun, there is such a thing as the black market. But it would sure as hell make it a lot harder for him to obtain a weapon like that.
 
How many robberies do you suppose are done with legal weapons? A wild guess will suffice.

You don't even need to deal with the "black market", guns are easy to come by depending where you are and the time of year. In Florida, guns are very easy to obtain, legal or illegal, illegal being far simpler to get than legal around the 4th of July. Once they are in circulation, they remain so until someone is caught. Once again, a wild guess will suffice, but how many guns would you guess are unregistered and in circulation, in comparison to those being taken by the law?

I understand what you're saying, I do, but it's on the premise that this man couldn't have received the guns just as easily illegally. As I asked before, do you know if his guns are legal? He had 3 guns aside from the AR, do you believe he had them legally?

Also, I'm only mentioning this because it's the second time you called it an AK-47, but it's not. :lew:
 
I found a first hand account of what went on in the theater. (I found several, actually.) It's a pretty intense read. The two people mentioned in the account did not get hurt.

Century 16, Theater 8... We got out alive, unharmed.
by Josh W on Friday, July 20, 2012 at 10:54am
Theater 8

I woke up on the morning of July 19th with an excited smile. I was going to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. I woke with Noemi next to me, and immediately began searching through our clothes for our Batman t-shirts. We were getting each other amped up for hours, reading Batman comics, watching the trailers – even playing Batman video games. Our excitement could no longer be contained, so we took our pre-printed tickets and left for Century 16 six hours before the show would begin. As we drove we talked of the scenes from the trailers and tried to plot bust the final film before we would see it. We walked through the doors smiling wide, looking at all of the people bearing the black and yellow symbol of The Dark Knight across their chests. We fiddled with a machine scanning our tickets unsuccessfully for several minutes before finally getting help from a cashier. As soon as our tickets came we walked in disbelief over to where they’d roped off an area for people to sit and wait, excited as children on Christmas morning. We were finally going to see our hero rise for the final time. I frantically kept checking my ticket stub, fearing it would disappear if I didn’t check that it was in my pocket every few seconds. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at it. Dark Knight Rises showed in bold letters across the top with House 8 directly below. We purchased our tickets at 7:14, and waited impatiently with wonderful people in line. We were the third and fourth people there in line, and couldn’t be happier. Shortly after we arrived we met a very nice and VERY excited guy (we later learned his name is Alex), and we talked for a good two hours. Everyone was friendly, excited… and smiling. We were counting down the minutes to when we’d finally see our hero again. To our surprise the doors to the theater opened around 9:35, and I was ushering Noemi to grab her purse and hurry behind me so we could get our usual seats. We like being at the very center of the middle row – perfect movie seats in my opinion. As we parted ways from our new friend from the line, he called, “see you after the movie!”


As usual the trailers began, and we cheered as trailers for The Hobbit, and Man of Steel played out on the screen. Excitement rippled through the theater as usual quiet commentary echoed around the room of mixed opinions. Everyone’s cheers and whoops fell into dead silence as the screen showed Commissioner Gordon giving his piece at Harvey Dent’s funeral. From that moment on the room was silent, and enjoying the show. Our excitement grew steadily as new characters were introduced, and the story began to unfold. We were taken to the story of a cop, and into the middle of a harsh action packed gun battle. Suddenly it was as though the movie was no longer a movie, the chaos on the screen had manifested itself into the very room. At first the sounds of what I thought to be cheap fire crackers didn’t phase me. Smoke billowed around the right side of the theater where people had previously been entering. This still didn’t phase me. I was determined to ignore the asshole interrupting my film, I wasn’t going to let fire crackers ruin my night. Noemi gripped my arm, worried, looking closer. Suddenly I snapped back to reality. I felt pieces of grit hit my face and arms. A series of further pops echoed with the movie’s scene of grim gun fire, and more “smoke” billowed around the right side of the room. It didn’t occur to me until later that it was not smoke, or at least not just smoke. It was debris showering into the room from bullets coming through the walls. Our shared wall with theater 9. Screams could be heard over the roar of the movie. I took Noemi by the hand and led her down the isle with everyone else trying to get out. Some stayed in their seats in disbelief, even defiant – not willing to leave their seats. A man in a white shirt rushed into the room as the fire alarms went off, “don’t exit through the front, there’s a man out there shooting people.” The only light in the room came from the big screen, showing enough in the dim light to send my body shaking with fear. As the sounds of groans and moans of pain became more coherent around us we realized people were injured. Even if we couldn’t spot them in the darkness, we could hear them. The shooting continued, barely audible over more screams. Finally, as though a switch of understanding struck me along with everyone else we began rushing back up the stairs towards the exits above at the top level – not the ones we came through. Noemi and I rushed out onto the bright and loud balcony level overlooking the main lobby. We were in the middle of what seemed like a war. Police officers with shot guns and pistols rushed below and out of sight while others guarded the stairs up to our level, ordering us to get down behind the wall. People rushed out through the front doors holding wounds, or doubled over in agony. I grabbed Noemi and pulled her behind me down the stairs, reassuring her as best I could. She pushed me away, yelling for me to run, but I grabbed her anyway and stayed with her on our dreamlike way out the front doors, completely in disbelief, fearing a bullet could tear it’s way through us at any given second. I don’t remember seeing many of the wounded, we got out quickly in the chaos of it all. The red and blue lights were as welcome as the Bat signal in the sky then, and I knew we were going to be okay. We moved well beyond the line of cop cars, knowing it should be safe. I walked up to a young boy, maybe my sister’s age with blood caked over his hands. I asked if he was okay, if he was hurt… It wasn’t his blood. He helped one of the wounded out of the building, and explained that the man had been hit pretty bad through one of his legs. The boy was holding up better than I was, he said, “I’m angry more than anything else, who does this? Who would do something like this?”


I shook my head, unable to reply. Childish guilt and shame welled up inside of me. I wanted to go back, to help. I looked at Noemi and shook off the ridiculous feeling. There was nothing I could have done. I took her in my arms and made phone calls to family letting them know what had happened, and that we were okay. Rumors of a death passed from person to person. My world was shattered. I had to get her out of there. Without hesitation she led me back to the car, and I drove us out of the parking lot behind a line of cars trying to escape the massacre. Sirens cut through the air as countless police cars and ambulances rushed past us. The fear deepened as I saw this. I wanted answers. How many people were injured? How many had been killed? Did I know any of them? I still don’t know if I do know any of them. I am shaking as I type my story now, recalling what happened. 9 news plays the details as I type now. Twelve dead, around fifty wounded. It is nearly ten o’clock in the morning. Ten bodies still remain inside of the theater. If we hadn’t purchased our tickets in advance, or arrived for good seats five hours before the movie… would we have been in the seats where people were being hit with bullets and debris from the walls? I don’t know. What if we’d been in theater 9 instead of 8? Would I be alive to tell you my story? I don’t know. I never saw the man who shot up theater 9. I heard he was dressed in black, and wore a gas mask as he used a rifle and two pistols on helpless innocent people. Men, women, children. Children. Cute kids dressed up as the caped crusader or the infamous back breaking Bane. There is no justice that can be brought to James Holmes. He deserves a fate worse than the most agonizing death can offer. I want to see him burn alive, I want to hear him scream for what he has done. I will never forget what I witnessed just ten hours ago. Is it wrong to feel guilty for getting away unscathed? If I could trade places with any of the twelve, I would in a heartbeat. None of them deserved this. We live in a world plagued by villains. Batman was everywhere that night, defeated. Our heroes are the brave officers offering their lives on the line to protect us..

They arrived to save the day, and got Holmes when he was at his car (I assume he was gathering more supplies to continue the slaughter). Noemi and I gave our statements and left just before rumors of bombs in the building began circulating. I am writing this now because my perspective needs to be shared. A friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook saying, “write, while it’s still fresh in your mind.” I’m glad he told me to, it all seems like broken fragments of a nightmare now. Telling this to you all now has helped me grasp what has happened, and I hope it will help you gain some idea of what we went through. I never would have thought I would be caught in the middle of something like this. I never would have thought I would see something like this. In 1999 I marched with hundreds in memory of the lives lost at Columbine. I watched the news at ten years old as the twin towers fell. I watched the news as the killer of Virginia Tech led his own meaningless rampage. Dark days are not knew to me, I’ve seen the chaos, the bodies, the meaningless death… but I have never been one of the people in the thick of it. All I can say now is that I am sorry for the families and friends who lost loved ones, I am sorry for those who are in critical condition at this very moment hanging on. I am sending all of my hope and love out to you all. Hang on. Fight. I thought I was going to lose the person I love most in this world last night. I have never been that scared in my life. I was one of the few who bitterly watched the sun rise this morning… such beauty seems out of place mere hours after something so horrible. I urge you all to open your hearts and minds to each other. Be good to each other. Be respectful, and help each other. Don't let these events pass into the shadows of history, only so we can repeat them and relive them over and over again.
Click to expand...

Another one if anyone is interested.

My girlfriend and I went to see the Dark Knight premiere. We were in theater 16. About 15 minutes in I heard a hissing noise coming from what seemed like far away. I passed it off as someone moving a trash can or something. 2 minutes later and the fire alarm went off. It said "There has been an emergency in the theater. Please evacuate". People were getting mad, and I thought someone just pulled the fire alarm to be a prankster and ruin everyone's night. As we got into the main lobby, everyone started coughing. It was difficult to inhale, and it didn't feel like regular smoke (I now know this was from the smoke bombs he set off). There were some people sprinting around me, but for the most part everyone was kind of quick walking. When we got outside, I could see someone pointing at his leg and saying "The firework hit me, right here". There were maybe 2 or 3 police cars at this point. After some more waiting around, we saw a police officer run towards the building with a shotgun. My girlfriend and I thought that now would be a good time to wait it out in my care. We sat in the parking lot for maybe 30 minutes and watched the cop cars pour in. People were beginning to leave, but I didn't want to get caught up in the jam, so we stayed put. The police had formed a perimeter around the building. We moved to try and get closer to the exit. The police had started going through cars with a flashlight. We moved into the line of cars. We saw vans and trailers begin to enter, with one marked "Command Center". The cars were showing no signs of moving. After a while, a helicopter with a search light showed up. People were coming back from the road in droves, trying to leave, I assume, but the police wouldn't let them. Finally, around 2:45 MST, the police began going down the lines of cars with a flashlight and letting people go home.

It's the most police cars I've ever seen in my life, and I was terrified the whole time. Luckily, my girlfriend was more chill, but she was still pretty worried.


I'm still pretty shaken up and it's late, so if it's not the most polished piece of literature, I apologize.
Click to expand...





Last but not least, a post on the same message board I got the above from before anyone outside the theater knew what was going on:

I work at a hotel, near Mississippi & 225, and for the last 40 minutes, every cop vehicle in the Denver metro area has zoomed passed. I have a police scanner app. It's saying something about a fire/bomb/shrapnel at the movie theater. (Multiple casualties)

Holy Shit!
Click to expand...

For those of you wanting a detailed as possible timeline on the events as they unfolded and are still unfolding, go here: http://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/wv8t1/comprehensive_timeline_aurora_massacre/


EDIT: Denver Police radio scanner recording of events at the theater (it's really long): radiocapture.com/aurora-00-59_04-00-blue-se.mp3
 
Last edited:
Pockets said:
How many robberies do you suppose are done with legal weapons? A wild guess will suffice.

You don't even need to deal with the "black market", guns are easy to come by depending where you are and the time of year. In Florida, guns are very easy to obtain, legal or illegal, illegal being far simpler to get than legal around the 4th of July. Once they are in circulation, they remain so until someone is caught. Once again, a wild guess will suffice, but how many guns would you guess are unregistered and in circulation, in comparison to those being taken by the law?

I understand what you're saying, I do, but it's on the premise that this man couldn't have received the guns just as easily illegally. As I asked before, do you know if his guns are legal? He had 3 guns aside from the AR, do you believe he had them legally?

Also, I'm only mentioning this because it's the second time you called it an AK-47, but it's not. :lew:
Click to expand...

All I said was that a gun like that shouldn't be legal to begin with. I really don't know why you're trying to turn this into a debate. As for whether it was an AK-47, I'm repeating what I've heard from certain sites. If I'm wrong with what kind of gun it was: then I'm wrong. I've also been wrong on how many died/and were injured. Obviously there's going to be conflicting reports.
 
I see, well the weapons used were disclosed in the link Argor posted a bit back. The rifle was an AR-15.

I didn't intend for this to be drawn into a debate at all. :lew: You are right, though, it's gone awfully far from our original points.
 
I read a different source earlier on in the morning that was posted on my friend's FB. So I obviously read misleading information. Or I misread it. Whatever.

And it's okay, back on topic:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...ping-out-of-neuroscience-graduate-school?lite

So apparently the man was in graduate school. That's surprising to me.


And thanks Technocrat for the first hand account stories and the link
 
This is definitely a paranormal event. Something happened here, then the string of incidents in Dark Knight. I'm sure there was something going on in Batman Begins as well that resulted in such a predicament (lookin' at Liam neeson's wife's tragedy). I can feel that this movie has some sort of hex or curse that affects whoever partakes in it, and now its come to affect us to a certain capacity.


Jeezuz, forget my ramblings. I'm just freaked and blown by these odd occurrences associated to Batman's movies.
 
I don't seem to remember anything happening for the Dark Knight. :hmm: What exactly happened with that?
 
You know, Heath's death, that stuntman's death, Morgan freeman's near death experience, Christian Bale's scandal? I may be too paranoid or just pulling stuff out of my ass, but I feel those events and now this makes me think that this trilogy is cursed to some capacity.
 
Ohhhhh, okay. I remember all that but I wasn't sure if you meant there was a string of crimes that mimicked the Joker or something.

You never know. Some movies are said to be cursed. Wasn't Poltergeist cursed or something like that?
 
The fact that he's smiling and taking all of this as a joke leads me to believe he's your classic case sociopath/psychopath.

And like always, those who knew him are 'shocked' he would do such a thing: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0721-colorado-shooter-20120721,0,3806745.story

Isn't it odd/fascinating that people are always shocked that these people turn out to be completely insane? I've never seen a case where someone knew the perpetrator and said 'oh yeah, that guy seemed a little off. I wouldn't be surprised if they snapped and shot up a room full of movie goers'.

But then again, if he is a genuine psychopath, I doubt this was spur of the moment. He was likely plotting this for a while, like some articles say. And he likely did this to cause 'chaos' or to drive terror into innocent people. Similar to Eric Harris, the lead boy in the Columbine shootings. With him it wasn't a way to get back at those who bullied him, contrary to popular belief. In Eric's eyes he viewed the world as inferior to himself. He likely suffered from delusions of grandeur. And when he committed the mass shooting at his high school, he did it for the thrill of it. The idea of going down in history like that was something that inspired him. I wouldn't be surprised to find out James Holmes had the same mindset.

Or he just truly believed he was The Joker. :ffs: Even though he got the hair color wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top