Update: authorities now have increased numbers of people injured to 58. Here's a summary from the 9 p.m. news conference on the movie theatre shooting incident as of 9:40 p.m. Friday.
AURORA, Colo. (AP) -- Police in Colorado say they will start meeting with the families of shooting victims to tell them the fate of their loved ones.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says the last of the 10 deceased victims from the midnight showing of a Batman movie was removed from the theater Friday afternoon.
Oates says officers expect to get a confirmed list of the deceased and meet with their families Friday night.
In addition to the 10 people who died at the theater, two others later died from their injuries.
Oates says there are 70 victims but not all were shot. Eleven are in critical condition.
The chief says suspect John Holmes purchased four guns at local gun shops and 6,000 rounds of ammunition through the Internet. All were purchased legally, he said.
Holmes was in custody Friday. Oates would not comment on any possible motive for the shootings.
Holmes is due to appear for arraignment in an Arapahoe Co. district court on Monday.
These AP stories separate the Colorado shooting incident into several angles and represent the latest information as of 7:40 p.m. EDT Friday. A news conference with Aurora officials is expected to start at 9 p.m. EDT. --Chris Turner, WDRB News.
AURORA, Colo. (AP) -- Police say a gunman opened fire on patrons at a suburban Denver movie theater early Friday morning during midnight shows of the new Batman movie. Twelve people died, ten of them at the theater. Two others died at the hospital.
Authorities have started to remove the bodies of the 10 people killed at the theater.
Another 59 adults and children were wounded.
Aurora police say victims are still being identified and not all the families have been notified.
The Pentagon says three members of the military were wounded and one is unaccounted for. The sailors and airmen were stationed at nearby Buckley Air Force base.
Police arrested a suspect in the shootings, 24-year-old James Holmes, whose apartment four miles away was booby trapped.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says investigators are confident the gunman acted alone.
Oates says Holmes wore body armor, used an assault rifle, a shotgun and a Glock handgun.
He says Holmes' car was parked in back of the theater.
COLORADO SHOOTINGS-WEAPONS
AP sources: Suspect bought guns in last 2 months
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal law enforcement official says the four weapons recovered in the deadly movie shootings were all purchased by the suspect from retail gun stores in Colorado in the last two months.
James Holmes bought one of the four guns -- the first of two Glock pistols -- on May 22 at Gander Mountain in Aurora, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe into the shootings is ongoing.
The official also said that on May 28, Holmes purchased the shotgun used in the shootings from Bass Pro Shops in Denver, and that on June 7, Holmes bought the AR-15 assault rifle used in the attacks at a Gander Mountain store in Thornton, Colo.
On July 6, according to the official, Holmes returned to the Bass Pro Shops store in Denver and bought the other Glock pistol.
A second federal law enforcement official says Holmes had a high capacity ammunition clip in the assault rifle.
COLORADO SHOOTING-APARTMENT
Police say Colo. suspect's apartment booby trapped
AURORA, Colo. (AP) -- Colorado firefighters say they're monitoring an apartment building for gases in an effort to determine what chemicals one of its residents might have used to booby trap the place, in case they go off.
The man, 24-year-old James Holmes, is the suspect in a mass shooting early Friday at a movie theater about four miles away.
Aurora Fire Chief Chris Henderson says "it's a pretty extensive booby trap" and investigators aren't sure what it's attached to. He says there are trip wires and three containers and they don't know what's inside.
Henderson says if there is a detonation that causes a fire, firefighters will fight it from the outside of the building.
Surrounding buildings have been evacuated.
COLORADO SHOOTING-FLAGS
President orders flags flown at half-staff
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is ordering the American flag lowered to half-staff as a mark of respect for the victims of the shootings in Aurora, Colo.
The president's order extends to the White House, all public buildings and grounds, all U.S. military posts and U.S. diplomatic offices abroad.
The order will remain in effect until the sun sets on July 25, next Wednesday.
COLORADO SHOOTING-UNIVERSITY EVACUATION
Campus research buildings evacuated after shooting
DENVER (AP) -- Police have evacuated two research buildings at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus where the suspect in the Colorado shootings was a graduate student.
University of Colorado-Denver Police Chief Doug Abraham sent a campus-wide email Friday ordering all non-essential personnel to leave the campus or stay home.
Abraham says it's a precaution and there is no reason to believe staff or students are at risk. The evacuation order is in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday.
James Holmes has been identified as the suspected shooter at a nearby movie theater Friday in Aurora. Until recently, he studied neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Denver graduate school.
Abraham says Holmes' building access was terminated in June and that he was in the process of completing withdrawal paperwork.
COLORADO SHOOTING-AMC
AMC won't allow costumes after Colorado shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Movie giant AMC Theatres says it won't be allowing people to wear costumes or face-covering masks into its theaters after a shooting in Colorado that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more.
The Kansas City, Mo.-based company says in a statement on its website Friday that it is "terribly saddened by the random act of violence in Aurora."
The shooting happened during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in the Denver suburb. A suspect was arrested outside the theater.
AMC says it is working with local law enforcement in communities across the U.S. to review its security procedures. It says on its website it has more than 300 movie houses, making it the nation's second-largest theater chain.
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AURORA, Colo. (AP) -- A graduate student in a gas mask barged into a crowded Denver-area theater during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday, hurled a gas canister and then opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.
When the smoke began to spread, some moviegoers thought it was a stunt that was part of the "The Dark Knight Rises," one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. They saw a silhouette of a person in the haze near the screen, pointing a gun at the crowd and then shooting.
"There were bullet (casings) just falling on my head. They were burning my forehead," Jennifer Seeger said, adding that the gunman, dressed like a SWAT team member, fired steadily, stopping only to reload.
"Every few seconds it was just: Boom, boom, boom," she said. "He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed."
The suspect was taken into custody near a car behind the theater and was identified by federal law enforcement officials as 24-year-old James Holmes.
Holmes was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver, university spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. Holmes enrolled a year ago and was in the process of withdrawing at the time of the shootings, Montgomery said.
Authorities gave no motive for the attack. The FBI said there was no indication of ties to any terrorist groups.
Holmes had an assault rifle, a shotgun and two pistols, a federal law enforcement official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding.
FBI agents and police used a hook and ladder fire truck to reach Holmes' apartment in Aurora, police Chief Dan Oates said. They put a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole inside the apartment and discovered the unit was booby-trapped. Authorities evacuated five buildings as they tried to figure how to disarm the flammable and explosive material.
At least 24 people were being treated at Denver-area hospitals, some of them for chemical exposure apparently related to canisters thrown by the gunman. Some of those hurt were children, including a 4-month-old baby, who was treated a hospital and released.
Police released a statement from Holmes' family: "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved."
The movie opened across the world Friday with midnight showings in the U.S. The shooting prompted officials to cancel the red-carpet premiere in Paris, with workers pulling down the display at a theater on the Champs-Elysees. Around the U.S., police and some movie theaters stepped up security for daytime showings of the movie, though many fans waiting in line said they were not worried about their safety.
President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the "horrific and tragic shooting," pledging that his administration was "committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded."
It was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13 soldiers and civilians and wounding more than two dozen others.
In Colorado, it was the deadliest since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, when two students opened fire in the Denver suburb of Littleton, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves. Columbine High is about 12 miles from the theater.
Friday's attack began shortly after midnight at the multiplex theater.
The film has several scenes of public mayhem - a hallmark of superhero movies. In one scene, the main villain Bane leads an attack on the stock exchange and, in another, leads a shooting and bombing rampage on a packed football stadium.
The gunman released a gas that smelled like pepper spray from a green canister, Seeger said. "I thought it was showmanship. I didn't think it was real," she said.
Seeger said she was in the second row, about four feet from the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face. At first, "I was just a deer in headlights. I didn't know what to do," she said. Then she ducked to the ground as the gunman shot people seated behind her.
She said she began crawling toward an exit when she saw a girl of about 14 "lying lifeless on the stairs." She saw a man with a bullet wound in his back and tried to check his pulse, but "I had to go. I was going to get shot."
Witness Shayla Roeder said she saw a teenage girl on the ground bleeding outside the theater. "She just had this horrible look in her eyes. .... We made eye contact and I could tell she was not all right," Roeder said.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard. Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.
Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots. "Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station. Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."
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