Batman cinema shooting: 12 dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' Denver premiere
At least 12 people have been killed and 38 injured in a shooting at a Dark Knight Rises film premiere near Denver, Colorado.
A 24-year-old man named James Holmes is in police custody. He reportedly wore a gas mask and body armour while opening fire at the Century 16 cinema in the city of Aurora in the Denver suburbs.
A 6-year-old child is among the dead and a 3-month-old baby was injured, say reports.
Holmes was arrested in a car park nearby in possession of a rifle, knife and hand-gun. He told police that explosives were stored at his home and offered no resistance when he was detained.
Witnesses have said that the man was wearing a gas mask and body armour before the incident, which occurred during a midnight screening of the new Batman film from Christopher Nolan.
Police chief Dan Oates said: "Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire. The shooting apparently went on for some time."
An explosive device also reportedly went off during the incident, which injured several people in the building.
Brenda Stuart, of local station 850 KOA Radio, told Sky News that movie-goers thought that loud bangs in the cinema were part of the film.
"All of a sudden, they saw bullets flying, and a lot of people ran screaming from the theatre. Then tear gas went off," she explained.
CNN has quoted one witness as saying that he saw a "guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people".
One other gun was recovered from the theatre.
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