Mass Shooting at Colorado Movie Theater : Batman Premiere

A shooting at a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado early today has left at least 14 people dead and at least 50 people injured, authorities confirmed. 

 

 People gather outside the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

Police now have apprehended a suspect who has been described as an adult male and have recovered a gun after the shooting at approximately 12:30 a.m. CT at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center in the Denver suburb. 

Witnesses said that the man appeared at the front of the theater with a rifle, handgun and gas mask. Witnesses said that he then threw a canister that released some kind of gas, after which a hissing sound ensued. The gunman then opened fire on the crowd packed into the early morning screening of the film, according to people in the theater at the time. 

An explosive device was also found inside the theater. Police are unsure of whether the device, which investigators are calling a bomb, was already in place or whether it was thrown into the crowd.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as audience members fled the theater. Aurora's police chief said that he cannot elaborate on women or children injured or dead in the shooting. 

Once apprehended the gunman told authorities that there were explosives in his North Aurora, Colo. residence. Investigators rushed to the apartment complex, which was quickly evacuated and now under lock down. 

Though police have said that they believe the shooter was acting alone, they are now taking precautions and checking all cars in the parking lot and clearing near the theater.

There is believed to be no connection to Islamic terrorism, per a senior official monitoring the situation in Washington. Investigators are now interviewing friends and associates of the suspect to get a sense of the man's background.

 By ANTHONY CASTELLANO | Good Morning America

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Police estimate 50 people are injured - youngest receiving medical treatment is a three-month-old baby

10 victims died at the cinema and at least four at nearby hospitals

A 6ft tall man, aged 24, dressed in black and wearing a gas mask and bullet-proof vest opened fire in a mall in Aurora, Colorado

Fired indiscriminately at audience with a rifle and two handguns after setting off a smoke bomb 30 minutes into the screening

Man was arrested without incident in a car park nearby and told the police that explosives were stored at his home

Apartment block in the north of Aurora has been evacuated

Confusion as witnesses thought shooting was part of the film

FBI are working with the local police and there is no terrorism link so far

Worst mass shooting in state since Columbine School Massacre in 1999

Via: http://www.dailymail.co.uk