At least 14 people were killed and 50 wounded when a gunman opened fire during an early Friday morning screening of the new Batman movie at an Aurora, Colorado, theater, Police Chief Dan Oates told reporters. Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora said they had arrested the alleged gunman following chaotic scenes at a movie theatre at a local mall.
According to CNN, the heavily armed suspect, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was apprehended by police in a rear parking lot of the Century Aurora 16 theater, said police spokesman Frank Fania.
A man talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, "They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, she said that when she turned around, all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people." A 24-year-old man was arrested in a car park nearby in possession of a rifle and handgun.
He told police that explosives were stored at his home. Witnesses told KUSA that the gunman kicked in an emergency exit door and threw a smoke bomb into the darkened theater before opening fire. The police have covered the area and they are now investigating of the shooting.
President Barack Obama had been notified by counterterrorism chief John Brennan and was aware of the incident, KUSA said. A spokeswoman for Denver's Swedish Medical Center said three people had been admitted to that hospital with gunshot wounds and were in critical condition.
Ambulances rushed to the scene as audience members fled the theater. Aurora's police chief said that he could not elaborate on women or children injured or dead in the shooting. KUSA reported that some hospitalised victims were being treated for chemical exposure, related apparently to the canister thrown by gunman.
