14 dead, 50+ injured at Aurora, CO. theater

[Melissa W.]

Jul 20, 2012 9:46:27 GMT -5 terpsfan said:

Jul 20, 2012 8:43:01 GMT -5 jessiespano said:

This has been a fear of mine for some time. I don't know what it is about being in a movie theater that makes me feel very vulnerable. I can't imagine the terror when those poor people realized what was going on.

Off topic, but I have this same anxiety but not with shootings but with fire...stems from The Station fire incident. I always have to have some sort of "out" strategy when I am in crowded places and get a lot of anxiety when places seem overwhelming.

On topic, this incident..sounds horrifying.

I definitely get the feeling that way after the Station Fire. It wasn't that far from where I live and I remember getting really freaked out at a show at a bar after that.

[jessiespano]

Apparently his warning about explosives at his home were correct. I don't know what prompted him to tell the police that before they went but I'm glad he did. At least it may have saved some additional people.

[druidp]

In imagining how the victims must have felt - in a movie, suspended reality, in the midst of a firefight scene, and then suddenly the real thing seems to be blending in from immediately around you - it must have been surreal and chaotic, and then just terrifying.

Gah.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

I am absolutely, thoroughly crushed for those victims and their families.

[teflep]

And abc is suggesting he was part of the tea party? A little early and don't the learn (AZ shooting). Ugh

[meshaliuknits]

Jul 20, 2012 9:20:20 GMT -5 marie427 said:

I just read this about one of the victims:

content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/07/nhl-blogger-and-aurora-victim-first-escaped-toronto-shooting/1#.UAlouGHtIt0

She was at the scene in Toronto last month when there was a fatal shooting at a mall. Now weeks later, she's at another fatal shooting and becomes one of the victims.

Terrible. And a little too Final Destination for me.

[emmybean]

Jul 20, 2012 10:38:01 GMT -5 teflep said:

And abc is suggesting he was part of the tea party? A little early and don't the learn (AZ shooting). Ugh

OFFS.

[Knight]

I just saw the rep for his family on MSNBC outside their house in SD. How did they get a rep so quickly?

[teflep]

Jul 20, 2012 10:51:38 GMT -5 Knight said:

I just saw the rep for his family on MSNBC outside their house in SD. How did they get a rep so quickly?

it has been at least 10 hours. I dont think that it's too quick.

[Knight]

Jul 20, 2012 10:54:37 GMT -5 teflep said:

Jul 20, 2012 10:51:38 GMT -5 Knight said:

I just saw the rep for his family on MSNBC outside their house in SD. How did they get a rep so quickly?

it has been at least 10 hours. I dont think that it's too quick.

I realize that but it really wouldn't be the first thing I'd think of and they only identified him like 3 or 4 hours ago.

[pixy0stix]

Jul 20, 2012 10:58:28 GMT -5 Knight said:

Jul 20, 2012 10:54:37 GMT -5 teflep said:

it has been at least 10 hours. I dont think that it's too quick.

I realize that but it really wouldn't be the first thing I'd think of and they only identified him like 3 or 4 hours ago.

It's probably a local affiliate.

[MrsAxilla]

Local news is reporting that he dropped out of med school about a month ago. I don't know why that's relevant, except maybe he cracked under all the pressure?

[heyjude]

Thank you Reeve. Bravo. In addition to to a reexamination of our gun laws we need to look at our dwindling mental health services. You can't have something like this and not contemplate why and what can we do differently?

Unfortunately the only thing that will probably happen is a call for greater laws regarding emergency exits and metal detectors at all theaters. :/

This incident is heartbreaking.

[NitaX]

Jul 20, 2012 7:37:00 GMT -5 teflep said:

It is on gma now. They talked to his mother. They are at his home as he said he has explosives there. The mother said they had the right person, not surprised.

Well dayum.

I turned on the news at 8am (doing the girls hair right before we leave the house) to see this horror. I've been in a meeting most of the morning, and I'm just now checking into this massive thread.

[MrsAxilla]

Jul 20, 2012 11:02:32 GMT -5 heyjude said:

Thank you Reeve. Bravo. In addition to to a reexamination of our gun laws we need to look at our dwindling mental health services. You can't have something like this and not contemplate why and what can we do differently?

Unfortunately the only thing that will probably happen is a call for greater laws regarding emergency exits and metal detectors at all theaters. :/

This incident is heartbreaking.

If it's true that he was a med student, then he DID have access to mental health services. CO has a program that all med students (and doctors) are enrolled in that provides services. Not to mention that he would have been require to carry pretty comprehensive health insurance, and there is a psychologist available on staff, as well.

[teflep]

Jul 20, 2012 11:12:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Jul 20, 2012 11:02:32 GMT -5 heyjude said:

Thank you Reeve. Bravo. In addition to to a reexamination of our gun laws we need to look at our dwindling mental health services. You can't have something like this and not contemplate why and what can we do differently?

Unfortunately the only thing that will probably happen is a call for greater laws regarding emergency exits and metal detectors at all theaters. :/

This incident is heartbreaking.

If it's true that he was a med student, then he DID have access to mental health services. CO has a program that all med students (and doctors) are enrolled in that provides services. Not to mention that he would have been require to carry pretty comprehensive health insurance, and there is a psychologist available on staff, as well.

PhD candidate for neuroscience. He hadnt dropped out yet, per CNN, but in the process of.

[lilmgirl]

Jul 20, 2012 9:33:58 GMT -5 taratru said:

I refuse to start thinking about "preventing these incidents." Sometimes bad shit happens. It doesn't lessen the pain and it doesn't make anything go away and I understand that. But blaming something or someone other than the fucking guy who did it is counterproductive and a waste of time. He was clearly fucked up and he did a terrible thing. The End.

I swear to baby Jeebus if this spawns some kind of security screening and pat down at the movies, I'm going to lose my fucking head.

Jumping in late due to stupid PST, but dittos this. Can we find some way to blame this on Hitler?

[MrsAxilla]

Jul 20, 2012 11:15:58 GMT -5 teflep said:

Jul 20, 2012 11:12:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

If it's true that he was a med student, then he DID have access to mental health services. CO has a program that all med students (and doctors) are enrolled in that provides services. Not to mention that he would have been require to carry pretty comprehensive health insurance, and there is a psychologist available on staff, as well.

PhD candidate for neuroscience. He hadnt dropped out yet, per CNN, but in the process of.

Oh. Well, no one cares about PhD students.

[pixy0stix]

Shooter's picture:

[Melissa W.]

Ok, stupid question but why does the news use full names like James Eagan Holmes?

[pixy0stix]

Jul 20, 2012 11:21:20 GMT -5 Melissa W. said:

Ok, stupid question but why does the news use full names like James Eagan Holmes?

Because James and Holmes are fairly common names? That's my guess. It's to make sure there's no confusion about who they are talking about.

[starlily]

Jul 20, 2012 9:14:22 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Jul 20, 2012 9:03:18 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

The only thing that we need to add to this thread to make the ridiculousness complete is to have a gun control debate.

Yes. I agree. Because if there is one thing that we can be absolutely certain of, its that guns had nothing to do with this. I mean, if he couldn't get a gun, he probably would have knifed all the people. Or tickled them until they wet themselves.

Sorry. I cant get worked up about this. Its another "Oh my god! How could this happen in a country where guns are easily available?" thread where everyone blames everything except the gun. This is the price paid for the US gun laws. On the one hand, yes, you can protect your property. On the other hand, nutters can kill people.

You know what's never happened in the UK? Load of people getting killed by a gun man in a cinema. You know hwats only happened once? A school getting shot - and after that, the tight gun laws got extremely tight.

Massive coincidence, but also, its very hard to get a gun in the UK.

But sure, lets all argue about the terrible parents who bought a kid to a late night movie lol

Im sorry these people got hurt and killed, but thats how it is.

Team Reeve.

I did a research paper in high school comparing gun laws in the US to those in the UK and Canada. The stats did not lie.

[taratru]

Please tell me that's just a picture and not his booking shot. If he's smiling like that after doing what he did...Lord.

[pixy0stix]

Jul 20, 2012 11:24:54 GMT -5 taratru said:

Please tell me that's just a picture and not his booking shot. If he's smiling like that after doing what he did...Lord.

It's from his student ID.

[Deleted]

Jul 20, 2012 9:18:44 GMT -5 teflep said:

Jul 20, 2012 9:14:22 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Yes. I agree. Because if there is one thing that we can be absolutely certain of, its that guns had nothing to do with this. I mean, if he couldn't get a gun, he probably would have knifed all the people. Or tickled them until they wet themselves.

Sorry. I cant get worked up about this. Its another "Oh my god! How could this happen in a country where guns are easily available?" thread where everyone blames everything except the gun. This is the price paid for the US gun laws. On the one hand, yes, you can protect your property. On the other hand, nutters can kill people.

You know what's never happened in the UK? Load of people getting killed by a gun man in a cinema. You know hwats only happened once? A school getting shot - and after that, the tight gun laws got extremely tight.

Massive coincidence, but also, its very hard to get a gun in the UK.

But sure, lets all argue about the terrible parents who bought a kid to a late night movie lol

Im sorry these people got hurt and killed, but thats how it is.

THen how did this happen: www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/02/uk.england.shootings/index.html
See, violence happens everywhere. Assault weapons usually are not something most support (and what was done to cause such a large number of killings). I am fine with tighter gun laws, but if someone is very sick, it wont matter.

And, cookie, here we are...gun control.

I am not saying the UK doesn't have a problem with some people getting guns illegally. And there are occasional shootings - I mean, once or twice a year. But its hard to get a gun. I have played gigs all over the UK in some of the shadiest areas, I have been (attempted) mugged, and I could get hold of any drug. But a gun? I never saw one, never heard of anyone having one, and that is the case for most of the people in the UK. If you have a gun, you are either a policemen (and thats a special branch, not standard), in the army, or a farmer (with a very limited choice of weapons and ammunition, and strict rules governing its use.

But you know, if someone shoots someone with a gun, you are not looking at a wide scope of people who could have got one, and tracking it must be easier, when there are so very few.

Its simple math, really. If the USA banned guns right now, today, it would have a huge problem, because there are so many. But it certainly clears the issue as far as the law goes - in the UK, if you have a gun, and you get caught, you are going to jail. You don't have to shoot it. Just owning it will be cause for arrest, and probably jail time.

The UK does have the opposite problem in that its very hard to protect yourself against an intruder. But of the two, I would rather go fist to fist against an intruder, or even knife to knife, than gun to gun. Its rare for bystanders to die in a knife fight.

[heyjude]

Jul 20, 2012 11:12:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Jul 20, 2012 11:02:32 GMT -5 heyjude said:

Thank you Reeve. Bravo. In addition to to a reexamination of our gun laws we need to look at our dwindling mental health services. You can't have something like this and not contemplate why and what can we do differently?

Unfortunately the only thing that will probably happen is a call for greater laws regarding emergency exits and metal detectors at all theaters. :/

This incident is heartbreaking.

If it's true that he was a med student, then he DID have access to mental health services. CO has a program that all med students (and doctors) are enrolled in that provides services. Not to mention that he would have been require to carry pretty comprehensive health insurance, and there is a psychologist available on staff, as well.

Okay then.

[MrsDL]

Photo released (not official mug shot, picture of U of Colorado)

[pixy0stix]

Death toll upped to 13 according to local news FB feed.

[pixy0stix]

One of the confirmed dead is 7 years old.

[runforrest]

Jul 20, 2012 8:14:32 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Jul 20, 2012 8:09:20 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Umm. its rated PG-13, its summertime, and kids love Batman.

PG-13? Wow. I am really surprised at how movies are rated these days. But still even if it is summertime, should a six year old be at a midnight movie?

Do we really need to judge grieving parents right now? Judge the shooter, but not the victims and their families, FFS.