Eyewitnesses report that Holmes entered the packed cinema, during the midnight premiere of the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises”, and threw smoke grenades into the crowd, before opening fire, with four guns. He was wearing a gas mask and body armor.
He appears to have shot at random, killing 12 and leaving 38 wounded; Holmes shot men, women and children. His youngest victim was a 4 month old baby.
One of those killed was 24 year old sports journalist Jessica Ghawi, she had survived another mass shooting last month in Toronto, Canada.
Holmes was then arrested at his car, which he had parked at the rear of the cinema. When arrested he told police, “I’m the Joker.”
The Joker is Batman’s arch enemy in the comic book series. Holmes had painted his hair red. His mask and body armour also resembled the villain, Bane, in the film “The Dark Knight Rises”. Some eyewitnesses said when they first saw him, they thought he had come dressed as Bane – as many other movie goers had dressed up in Batman costumes for the Premiere.
Investigators are working on the theory that Holmes was acting out scenes from the Batman comics in his attack.
When FBI later raided his home they found it booby trapped, and stacked with high explosives.
It has emerged that James Holmes was a neuroscience student, who dropped out of university last month, giving no reason for doing so. He had no previous convictions, and is not believed to be affiliated to any terrorist group.
Colorado is no stranger to mass shootings. The Columbine High School shootings took place less than 30 miles away 13 years ago, when 13 people lost their lives.
The (San Francisco) Bay Area Center For Voting Research itemized highly conservative and highly liberal cities nationwide. This was done by how they voted, either republican or liberal in the 2004 presidential election.
Also, votes for the Libertarian and Constitution Parties were considered conservative. Votes for the Green, Peace and Freedom Parties were counted as liberal.
The top 15 cities of each are listed below… with their violent crime rates. Note, the national average is 4 violent crimes per 1000 residents.
Top Liberal:
Detroit, Michigan – 24 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Gary, Indiana – 15 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Berkeley, California – 5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Washington, DC – 13 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Oakland, California – 16 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Inglewood, California – 8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Newark, New Jersey – 11 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Cambridge, Massachusetts – 5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
San Francisco, California – 7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Flint, Michigan – 24 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Cleveland, Ohio – 14 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Hartford, Connecticut – 13 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Paterson, New Jersey – 11 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Baltimore, Maryland – 15 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
New Haven, Connecticut – 15 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Top Conservative:
Provo, Utah – 2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Lubbock, Texas – 9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Abilene, Texas – 5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Hialeah, Florida – 4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Plano, Texas – 2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Colorado Springs, Colorado – 5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Gilbert, Arizona – 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents
Bakersfield, California – 6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Lafayette, Louisiana – 8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Orange, California – 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents
Escondido, California – 4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Allentown, Pennsylvania – 6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Mesa, Arizona – 4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Arlington, Texas – 5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents
Peoria, Arizona – 2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents