12 killed in Colorado shooting at Dark Knight Rises premiere - Part 1

[Godzilla2000]

They're called "malfunctions" or "malformations" in the brain.

Yes, but seriously, why did he choose a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises specifically? It's too convenient that this movie with it's subject matter was the one he picked to carry out his mad delusion. Why didn't he target the Avengers or The Amazing Spider-man, or why not plan on hitting the theater when The Bourne Legacy opened? Why did he choose The Dark Knight Rises? These are things our top Law Enforcement agencies must be taking into consideration. There is a network of homegrown terrorists that would use any seemingly silly reason to spread their terrorism. Chances are they must believe they're helping the people as I'm sure the ones that bombed the Federal Building must have been thinking when they planned out their attack. This might sound like an isolated incident, but for the benefit of National Security the FBI must be ever vigilant. It's always tragedies like this that must not be taken lightly. They might have the man in custody but the FBI really needs to see if he was a member of or associated with any extremely militant groups and keep very close tabs on them from now on. Sometimes the threat is not from other countries, but within our own.

 

[Bruce Malone]

I can't possibly understand the logic there.

It's a fictional character and hero mourning the deaths of innocent people. No different than Spider-man reacting to and mourning the victims of 9/11.

-R

It's not the time to be mixing fantasy with reality way too soon if ever.

Those 9/11 victims were not killed during a spider-man film as well.

 

[Robin91939]

It's a way to honor those who were killed/harmed. All of whom, it could be assumed were Batman fans, themselves.

Me and the many other people who I know who have seen it, found it to be moving -- not disrespectful.

It's not blending fantasy and reality. It's not saying Batman is a real person. It's just symbolic. I believe there was a similar picture four years ago with Batman mourning the death of Heath Ledger (who died during a Batman film).

I don't think there should be an argument over "the right way to try and honor the dead." Any anger should be directed toward the monster who committed this act and at him alone.

If I were commercializing this picture or monitoring it -- then, yes, I'd see the disrespect. But I think showing the character these people died seeing honoring them is moving, not disrespectful.

-R

 

[Silent_Guardian]

Thats just it. Colorado has a system in place that allows someone to do what they just did through perfectly legal means even after the columbine fiasco. Most systems can live with exceptions or even aberrations to the norm. Today this just proved that this isnt one of them. Your 0.00000000000000001% just tried killing as many people as the bullets he could physically and legally carry would let him. You cant simply trust caliber weapons on someones good judgement. A persons mental makeup is not something that is easily quantifiable and that is guaranteed to be constant with time.

There can be some sort of middle ground possibly, but this system is too delicate to simply ignore the cases where someone with the intent of killing many can legally obtain the means to do so. Unfortunately we cant say well its just 12 dead out of millions of Americans so its an acceptable casualty and therefore the gun control system works. The president was on tv talking about it and its an unacceptable loss that promotes terror. Its a tragedy & this isnt something that can be swept under the rug. Lets see this psycho be just as efficient when its more difficult and expensive to score all the gear he had at the theatre and probably has in his apt.

The point I'm trying to make is, let's see criminals and thugs get ahold of firearms illegally when an entire city bans them. They do it anyway. There are pros and cons to everything, gun control is one of them. If somebody in the middle of the theater was carrying a concealed firearm, chances are the death toll/injured is GREATLY reduced. In Chicago this year murders rose by 49% so far, yet shootings 10%. Name one serial killer (not mass murderer) that used a firearm to kill the majority of their victims. Guns don't kill people unless a human being is pulling the trigger. Knifes don't stab someone unless a human being thrusts it into them. Homemade bombs don't blow anybody up unless a human being creates and detonates them. The point I'm trying to make, is as far as reducing the amount of tragic loss of life in this country, there are several things that would be far more effective if eliminated from our lives. Gun control is another wedge issue where people argue all day long about something insignificant for 99.9% of us.

 

[TheOnlyOmega]

http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-shooti...-birthday-205219708--abc-news-topstories.html
This is just so terrible. That tweet is heartbreaking.

 

[Thundercrack85]

The saying that "guns don't kill people" is just silly. Of course they do. Yes, you need a person to fire them, but it's not like they're designed for anything else.

 

[Silent_Guardian]

Yes, but seriously, why did he choose a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises specifically? It's too convenient that this movie with it's subject matter was the one he picked to carry out his mad delusion. Why didn't he target the Avengers or The Amazing Spider-man, or why not plan on hitting the theater when The Bourne Legacy opened? Why did he choose The Dark Knight Rises? These are things our top Law Enforcement agencies must be taking into consideration. There is a network of homegrown terrorists that would use any seemingly silly reason to spread their terrorism. Chances are they must believe they're helping the people as I'm sure the ones that bombed the Federal Building must have been thinking when they planned out their attack. This might sound like an isolated incident, but for the benefit of National Security the FBI must be ever vigilant. It's always tragedies like this that must not be taken lightly. They might have the man in custody but the FBI really needs to see if he was a member of or associated with any extremely militant groups and keep very close tabs on them from now on. Sometimes the threat is not from other countries, but within our own.

With all due respect, I believe this was the most highly anticipated movie of the year. Which makes the "attention" theories the most plausible. The "I'm the Joker" bit is probably just trolling to possibly get off on an insanity plea. I don't believe there is any "agent of chaos" message or anything of the sort, just a psycho who wants to be remembered/known by the world and doing this on DKR's opening midnight showing is the most effective way. Plus, it helps that DKR has the perfect combination of dark, realism and immense popularity, making these associations catch more traction which in turn garners him even more attention in the end.

 

[CJ]

I can't possibly understand the logic there.

It's a fictional character and hero mourning the deaths of innocent people. No different than Spider-man reacting to and mourning the victims of 9/11.

-R

Your heart is in the right place, but still, you're taking a comic-book character like Batman and mixing it together with a tragedy. A lot of people could take that the wrong way. Especially considering the fact that the people who died, happened to die while watching a Batman movie.

I know you didn't mean it to be disrespectful, but If I was one of the people affected by the shooting, I'd be offended.

 

[Silent_Guardian]

The saying that "guns don't kill people" is just silly. Of course they do. Yes, you need a person to fire them, but it's not like they're designed for anything else.

There are dozens of weapons designed with one thing in mind: inflicting lethal damage. If this guy had sneaked a katana into the theater then went ape **** with it when the lights turned off just before the previews, he could have killed roughly the same amount of people. Guns are a medium of human behavior/choices. People don't want anything to do with nuclear weapons, yet we've been killing each other by the millions without using them for as long as civilization has existed. Which is long before guns. Actually that's a bad example because one person can't kill one million with one gun lol.

 

[Bruce Malone]

It's a way to honor those who were killed/harmed. All of whom, it could be assumed were Batman fans, themselves.

Me and the many other people who I know who have seen it, found it to be moving -- not disrespectful.

It's not blending fantasy and reality. It's not saying Batman is a real person. It's just symbolic. I believe there was a similar picture four years ago with Batman mourning the death of Heath Ledger (who died during a Batman film).

I don't think there should be an argument over "the right way to try and honor the dead." Any anger should be directed toward the monster who committed this act and at him alone.

If I were commercializing this picture or monitoring it -- then, yes, I'd see the disrespect. But I think showing the character these people died seeing honoring them is moving, not disrespectful.

-R

CJ there summed it well.

Yes these people may have been batman fans but for many or most of the people who survived they may associate pictures of batman now with a very distressing period in their lives many may now be traumatized just from images like that.

I think the more we can separate batman from this tragedy the better for everyone.

 

[Avengers-Report]

I can't possibly understand the logic there.

It's a fictional character and hero mourning the deaths of innocent people. No different than Spider-man reacting to and mourning the victims of 9/11.

-R

I didn't like the picture either.

To most people, Batman isn't as real or important as it is to Batman fans. They don't take him as seriously. You are mixing a real life tragedy with a fictional character. You are trying to do the right thing, but it won't sit well with most people.

 

[Thundercrack85]

There are dozens of weapons designed with one thing in mind: inflicting lethal damage. If this guy had sneaked a katana into the theater then went ape **** with it when the lights turned off just before the previews, he could have killed roughly the same amount of people. Guns are a medium of human behavior/choices. People don't want anything to do with nuclear weapons, yet we've been killing each other by the millions without using them for as long as civilization has existed. Which is long before guns. Actually that's a bad example because one person can't kill one million with one gun lol.

That scenario is ridiculous and implausible.

Point remains, guns do kill people.

 

[Godzilla2000]

http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-shooti...-birthday-205219708--abc-news-topstories.html
This is just so terrible. That tweet is heartbreaking.

Oh my God....that Tweet made me tear up. I mean how can people be so heartless in this world? I think we need more Crybaby Milk Drinkers who actually care about the preservation of life, not destroying it.

 

[Silent_Guardian]

That scenario is ridiculous and implausible.

Point remains, guns do kill people.

It's only as implausible as a concealed carrier in the audience cutting the amount of murders down to a fraction. Tell me, do you believe somebody would attempt this at a Law Enforcement convention in a CCW state? Not very plausible

Also, you do realize the katana is pretty much the #1 weapon of choice for nuts who like to fantasize a scenario for a zombie apocalypse? At least as a second weapon. Somebody good with a katana would have no problem mutilating about a dozen people taking them by surprise during a sold out movie. Then there's ninja stars to take out a few more. Guns have more potential, but they're given a bad rap by those who exploit the fact that gun laws usually discourage 99% of us from carrying one in public.

 

[Silent_Guardian]

http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-shooti...-birthday-205219708--abc-news-topstories.html
This is just so terrible. That tweet is heartbreaking.

 

[CJ]

Ugh. I couldn't read that Tweet. I clicked the link and saw the words "Dead on his 27th Birthday" and I had to just click off the window. Too heartbreaking.

 

[jonbw12]

I must admit.........my enthusiasm to see the movie has been tempered a bit by this news. when things like this happen, it puts things into perspective about what's important.

it....it always boggles my mind how sick and twisted some people can be.........

There are some weird people in this world and my thoughts go out to the families.

 

[Sloth7d]

I don't believe that numinous nonmaterial malevolent forces mess with the tangled cluster of neurons in peoples brains. I'm sorry.

Not sure what that has to do with what I said. I'm not religious or spiritual either.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I'm getting quite tired of people around the net trivializing this tragedy. It hits far too close to home for me to tolerate.

 

[regwec]

It's only as implausible as a concealed carrier in the audience cutting the amount of murders down to a fraction. Tell me, do you believe somebody would attempt this at a Law Enforcement convention in a CCW state? Not very plausible

Also, you do realize the katana is pretty much the #1 weapon of choice for nuts who like to fantasize a scenario for a zombie apocalypse? At least as a second weapon. Somebody good with a katana would have no problem mutilating about a dozen people taking them by surprise during a sold out movie. Then there's ninja stars to take out a few more. Guns have more potential, but they're given a bad rap by those who exploit the fact that gun laws usually discourage 99% of us from carrying one in public.

The thing about guns, as with bombs, is that they are much more effective at killing lots of people very quickly than more archaic weapons.

I think we have always had deeply unhinged, bitter people in our midst. They have probably always been willing to die or kill others to make a point. But, by creating the circumstances where they can easily obtain weapons that can take a lot of people with them, you make this sort of horror inevitable.

9/11 couldn't have happened in 1700, and nor could this. It only takes one pathetic, mixed up man-child like this to cause a huge tragedy, if you allow him to readily obtain weapons that can fire hundreds of rounds per minute.

I don't want to wade into a row about gun control. I believe in freedom. But does anyone really need to own a weapon of war that had been expressly designed to kill as many people in the shortest time possible?

I really don't know. Here, in Britain, I don't think I have ever met anybody over the age of 13 who even wanted to own a gun.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

The horror of all of this has still not sunk in totally for me. Perhaps it never will. I simply can't understand why anyone would want to take the lives of innocents.

I also don't think it will ever be possible to get to the bottom of why this person did what they did. The police are dealing with a truly disturbed individual here.

Surely the point now is to get the government to put into place State and/or Federal laws that stop people being able to buy weapons like this so easily. So that something similar cannot happen again.

If this person was not able to buy automatic weapons and ammunition as easily as it is to buy a tin of beans in a supermarket, this might never have happened on the scale that it did.

Things like this simply shouldn't happen in a civilised society.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

It's only as implausible as a concealed carrier in the audience cutting the amount of murders down to a fraction. Tell me, do you believe somebody would attempt this at a Law Enforcement convention in a CCW state? Not very plausible

Also, you do realize the katana is pretty much the #1 weapon of choice for nuts who like to fantasize a scenario for a zombie apocalypse? At least as a second weapon. Somebody good with a katana would have no problem mutilating about a dozen people taking them by surprise during a sold out movie. Then there's ninja stars to take out a few more. Guns have more potential, but they're given a bad rap by those who exploit the fact that gun laws usually discourage 99% of us from carrying one in public.

Not trying to cause an argument or trivialise these horrible events, but you are more likely to be able to overpower someone wielding a sword and survive than someone who is carrying a fully automatic assault rifle.

 

[Paroxysm]

Yup all it takes is one person to engage.

 

[StevieNicks1988]

I posted this in the comments section of one of the articles running around about whether the film should or should not be taken out of theaters, and I wanted to post it here as well as its garnered pretty positive feedback where it was posted first;

"Blaming the movie, movie creators or studio for this massacre is ridiculous and requesting this movie not be shown is even more ludicrous. People have waited four years for this movie to come out and honestly, its not anyone's fault or place to remove the product from theaters just because some nut job decided to get his 15 minutes of fame by doing his deed the night this film premiered. He was obviously out for attention, with the theater setting, referring to himself as "The Joker," even surrendering to the police without a real fight. This was clearly thought out as a device to gain himself attention, and what better setting than at the midnight premiere of the late summer's biggest blockbuster. He was mentally ill and wanted to be a media hog. That's what he got and now he'll get what's coming to him. Why take anything out on a film that, even though it features a terrorist (which one could call Ledger's Joker the same), features an overlapping message of hope, endurance, reliance and shows that sticking together, working as a team, being a beacon of faith can trump evil any day? That's the true message of the film at the end of the day.

It's very sad that fans of cinema and fans of Batman were gunned down thanks to that acts of that deranged lunatic but to not go see the movie because of it is stretching a little too far. If they were switched and Avengers or Spider-Man were out this weekend, surely he would've picked those as well and called himself Loki or Green Goblin. All this had to do with was timing and I'm pretty positive it all came down to "I have the balls to do this now, where can I find a large gathering of people....hmmm, let me think." I saw this movie while those events transpired and I'm still going back for a second viewing come Hell or high water on Sunday. This movie was hands down amazing, one of the only movies I've ever seen that's made me cry in a theater and I'll be damned if some attention grabbing psychopath is going to ruin my, or my family and friends, experience while watching this movie this weekend. To those who were lost because of the shooting, my thoughts and prayers go out to their families but honestly, the world is a crazy place and whether this happened at the theater, a mall or any other public place, this maniac probably still would've done the same thing. I've seen enough crazies in my lifetime (having stayed a few months in a mental institution as a teenager for depression) to know that half of them want to make others suffer with them, and the other half don't have a thought out plan, they just do whatever springs into their head, and obviously this man just wanted to go into a packed-out place and let loose his anger on the world. It could've been anywhere else or any other time, but I'm 99.9% sure his choosing had nothing to do with it being just because it was a Batman movie, thus pulling the film would be a dumb move. This film is still one of, if not the best, superhero flicks ever created, tragedy or not."

 

[CrimsonDeath]

I love guns, weapons and knives and swords. I don't own any real guns now, only paintball guns.
I would love to have more opportunities to practice target shooting.

But I wouldn't care one bit if all weapons were outlawed to own by US citizens. Or at least put severe limits on what can be owned legally. Extremely severe. But oh so many crybabies without a legimate reason want to have an arsenal.

Yet it only takes one bullet and a willing finger to pull the trigger. Not everyone will even fantasize taking a life nor even dare do it. The problem is the mind and soul of individuals. How can we know what's in a person's heart? How can we change them all for good if hundreds of religions, thousands of ideas of philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, science, politics, nothing has created a culture and civilization where something horrible like this tragedy never happens.

A sick mind will always find a loophole and twist and taint what is good. The only thing we can do is be involved with our families and friends and acquaintences and take note of red flags, but even that is not enough.

I feel so so angry, so sad for all on so many levels.