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July 20, 2012 | | SURVIVOR At least 12 people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of the new Batman film in Aurora, Colorado. A suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes, is in police custody as police search his apartment, which is said to be ‘booby-trapped’ with explosives. Jennifer Seeger, who survived the massacre, by playing dead, describes the terrifying scene, from the burning shells to the screams from the crowd. Plus, video of eyewitness accounts, photos and tweets from the scene, and more coverage of the tragedy. SUSPECT The University of Colorado has started handing out an undated photograph of James Holmes, the suspect in the shooting attack on a suburban Denver movie theater that left 12 people dead and at least 50 injured. The university’s Denver campus confirmed Friday that Holmes was withdrawing from its neurosciences graduate program at the time of the shooting. Holmes is 24 years old and, according to the FBI, and is not believed to have any ties with terrorist groups. Police found his home to be “booby-trapped” and filled with “possible explosives.” Meanwhile, the AP reports that James Holmes bought a ticket to the movie, and entered the theater as part of the crowd. Later, a federal law enforcement official said, Holmes propped open the exit door, put on bulletproof gear, and open fire. Colorado Tragedy President Obama was scheduled to make a campaign stop in Winter Park, Fla., today but changed his plans due to the Colorado movie-theater shooting. While in Ft. Myers, Fla., this morning, the president will address the deadly attack. Both Obama's and Mitt Romney's campaigns have pulled television ads from Colorado airwaves, with super PACs quickly following suit. DEATH IMITATES ART This won’t help Hollywood’s case for using violence as entertainment. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said the Colorado shooter suspected of opening fire in a suburban Denver movie theater resembled “The Joker”—the archetypal villain from the comic book series—when he attacked. At a news conference on Friday, Kelly said the “deranged” suspect, James Holmes, “had his hair painted red” at the time of the attack and claimed to be “The Joker,” the terrorist played by Heath Ledger in the last Batman film, The Dark Knight. Kelly said the NYPD has stepped up security in New York City movie theaters “as a precaution against copycats” and to ease fears in the wake of the awful Colorado shooting. POST-SHOOTING Christopher Nolan’s third Batman installment had rave reviews and massive box-office expectations. But in the wake of the horrific shooting at a late-night screening of the film, are Hollywood’s lofty expectations a bust? The Daily Beast’s Ramin Setoodeh reports. | | 
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