# 12 people shot dead at BATMAN movie screening in Denver. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2012, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835 "2012-07-20T09:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/281 "2012-07-22T00:03:12Z")
BBC is showing the police in the process of dismantling the booby traps in the perp’s apartment. Sounds like there’s still more. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/282 "2012-07-22T00:04:57Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Thank you. I’ll be here all weekend. Tips appreciated. 😉 Do you do Bar Mitzvahs and Children’s Parties? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/283 "2012-07-22T00:07:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > BBC is showing the police in the process of dismantling the booby traps in the perp’s apartment. Sounds like there’s still more. Perhaps they should throw the guy into his apartment through the window and ring the doorbell. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/284 "2012-07-22T00:18:38Z")
The Denver Post has some graphics up [showing how things unfolded.](http://shortformblog.com/post/27698730163/midnight-screening-shooting-update) and here is an [image](http://yfrog.com/z/es3blytj) of what the alleged shooter had on during the attack. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/285 "2012-07-22T00:18:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Perhaps they should throw the guy into his apartment through the window and ring the doorbell. No, I want him alive so he’ll eventually be paying his dues to his cellmate Rocko in the shower room. There’s something about “jars of liquids” and sounds like they’re strategically placed. This guy really is starting to sound like the mad-scientist type. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/286 "2012-07-22T00:32:03Z")
As for the idea of all the citizens should be armed, that makes me think of Managua, Nicaragua in 1987. I went to the main post office and saw a soldier on duty at the front entrance, and all firearms had to be checked in with him. And it looked like I was the only person in the city if not the country who was not armed. And we know what a peaceful place _that_ is. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/287 "2012-07-22T00:37:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No, I want him alive so he’ll eventually be paying his dues to his cellmate Rocko in the shower room. You think Rocko likes red hair? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/288 "2012-07-22T00:40:52Z")
Won’t he be in a cell by himself for his own protection or some shit? At the moment he’s in seclusion. The Post said they had to move twelve women to once cell (but I think they mean pod) to accompany that shift, whatever that means. Also wanted to add that it’s so strange he gave up so easily with police…but I’m VERY FREAKING GLAD that after Columbine, rules were changed so police could charge after a gunman without waiting for a SWAT team. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/289 "2012-07-22T01:22:00Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > Also, if there isn’t much else going on why not send a lot of cops to the One Big Event? > > You’re right. Cops don’t need to patrol areas; they should all sit in the precinct and wait until something happens. Reactive, not preventative. Good idea! On what ignorant basis do you think that the responding cops were sitting on their collective asses inside the precinct? You are apparently unaware that patrolling cops have these interesting communication devices called “radios” that enable them to hear emergency calls for assistance. I would suspect that the majority of the cops responding, if not all of them, _were_ on patrol at the time but for a mass casualty event patrolling officers whose current beats aren’t experiencing a problem will respond to the emergency. This is so a couple dozen people don’t have to wait in line for CPR or direct pressure to spurting wounds. But don’t let practicality get in the way of your fantasy world. > [@oreally](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > Someone whose sitter didn’t show up? > > I don’t think this brilliant response needs explanation. What, baby sitters in your world never fail to show up for the evening? Where is this uptopia where you live? > [@oreally](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > Usually the worst danger from taking a 3 month old to a theater is that the kid will start crying and annoy the crap out of the rest of the audience > > Well if THAT’S all, by all means, people should taking the crying/screaming kids to a movie. If it’s convenient for you, to hell with everyone else. And libraries and restaurants (etd etc) while they’re at it. If you want to be a tool and extrapolate from “worst case is a crying kid” to “drag the rugrats everywhere” that’s your misfortune but compared to the worst case scenario for taking a _adult_ to a theater – said adult turns out to be a nutjob who murders 12 and wounds several dozen others – I’ll take the crying baby, he’s a lot less hazardous to my health. Taking a 3 month old to the show isn’t ideal by any stretch of the imagination but it’s hardly the crime you imply it to be. It’s certainly less neglectful than leaving the baby at home alone while the adults go see the movie, so quit your bitchin’. > [@oreally](#): > > > [@cochrane](#): > > > > Also, does an exit have to be alarmed to be considered an emergency exit? > > They should be and this would have screwed up his plan right out of the gate. I know it’s hindsight but I’m all for eliminating such exits which are non-emergency. No, an exit does not need to be alarmed to be an emergency exit. And how, exactly, would an alarm have stopped this guy? Sure, he goes out the door to his car, parked very close by as [seen in this photo](http://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/media/global/assets/images/20120720/20120720_2120842220120720234041.jpg) with the exit door in the upper left of the frame. Some theater employee, hearing the alarm, goes out the door to investigate/tell him not to use the door and gets his head blown off by the now heavily armed homicidal maniac, who then proceeds to re-enter through the emergency door, alarm be damned. This is going to accomplish… what? Really, what is that going to do? If anything, the patrons, thinking there is an emergency because of the alarm, will go out that door straight in Homicial Manic’s Gunfire. > [@oreally](#): > > > [@rocking chair](#): > > > > these days even to get an annoying talker to stop you have to search for quite some time to find an employee to remove them. > > Yep. And that’s pretty much every movie I’ve been to in recent years. The screaming babies are the most fun. Then buy yourself a big screen TV and stay home to watch movies so you won’t dirty yourself by associating with the unwashed masses. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/290 "2012-07-22T01:31:47Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Shooter supposedly dyed hair bright red. That would stand out on camera along with any of his swat gear he was wearing. Somebody noticed him going in! Right, because it’s impossible anyone else in the theater had red hair. :rolleyes: And he didn’t wear the “swat” gear in the front door, he put that on _after_ he exited the auditorium and went to his car for the gas and guns. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/291 "2012-07-22T01:36:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > On what ignorant basis do you think that the responding cops were sitting on their collective asses inside the precinct? You are apparently unaware that patrolling cops have these interesting communication devices called “radios” that enable them to hear emergency calls for assistance. I would suspect that the majority of the cops responding, if not all of them, _were_ on patrol at the time but for a mass casualty event patrolling officers whose current beats aren’t experiencing a problem will respond to the emergency. This is so a couple dozen people don’t have to wait in line for CPR or direct pressure to spurting wounds. But don’t let practicality get in the way of your fantasy world. Also wanted to add that the Aurora PD is a stone’s throw from the theatre! And it’s not unusual to think that Colorado (hello, Columbine?) to have a mass of officers responding to something like that. If you see some of the radio transcripts, there were initial reports of more casualties and injuries than what had happened. In the beginning, all anyone knew is that there was a shooter on a rampage at a theatre. And yet..there still weren’t enough ambulances on scene. Police officers transported some injured in their own vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/292 "2012-07-22T01:53:22Z")
So just what measures could decrease the risk of “fish in a barrel” situations like this one? Other than “security theater” (no pun intended) measures? Even if you banned the civil posession of guns it would probably just make it somewhat harder or more expensive for a determined maniac to acquire an arsenal. If people in the audience had been armed? I dunno; dark, crowded, pandemonium, no room to maneuver, no real cover, tear gas, confusion over whether it’s a stunt or not, a shooter wearing body armor sufficient to stop most handgun rounds-this is probably close to a worst-case scenerio for self-defense shooting. Or to put it another way, what do they do in Tel Aviv, where virtually every public gathering is a potential target? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/293 "2012-07-22T01:54:49Z")
In Tel Aviv, maybe it would’ve been harder for him to get back into the theatre in full body armor. But there’s more security. ---
**Author:** ![DavidBarnos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b77776/32.png) [@DavidBarnos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidBarnos)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/294 "2012-07-22T01:55:59Z")
If der were more guns in the theatre more people would have access. I agree with your assessment of the situation. Banning guns wouldn’t necesaraly stop the madness. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/295 "2012-07-22T02:10:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Right, because it’s impossible anyone else in the theater had red hair. :rolleyes: > > And he didn’t wear the “swat” gear in the front door, he put that on _after_ he exited the auditorium and went to his car for the gas and guns. Chill…just chill. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/296 "2012-07-22T02:30:14Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Colin Ferguson Bah…He’s an outlier. Besides, he only killed six–that barely even qualifies him as a mass murderer. You’re right about mental illness not being taken seriously, of course. But that would require actual work, tolerance, forgiveness and all the other balderdash. Humans would have to start paying attention to, and genuinely caring for, each other. I have zero hope of that ever happening on any meaningful scale. We’re witch burners by nature. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/297 "2012-07-22T02:56:21Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I actually think that the immediate aftermath of a tragedy is a _horrible_ time to propose and discuss potential legislation. That’s how we wound up with the shitty PATRIOT Act. It’s hard to think rationally when you’re seeing dead bodies on TV and emotions are running high. Hey somebody gets it, thx for saving me the keystrokes. But as you can see you’re wasting your time (which is why I wasn’t about to bother). I think this is one of those things you get or you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/298 "2012-07-22T02:57:52Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I don’t understand this. You have a location where fifty people are shot and more than ten are killed. Is there something more important going on in Aurora at that particular time where the police need to be? Is there someone speeding or drinking liquor in public? I don’t understand what you and a few others don’t understand. Based on the logic of “if nothing is going on you don’t need to be there,” again, why bother patrolling at all? Just hang out at the police station and as soon as something happens everyone swarm the place. When it’s over, everyone go back to the police station. Sure, you have a significant # of cops go there. I just thought the total # was overkill (based on initial reports anyway). > [@Chefguy](#): > > Because if they hadn’t, you and people like you would be whining about how heartless they are. Hardly. But thx for pretending to think you know…well wait, pretending to think about covers it. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Also, why is anybody interviewing the New York City police commissioner about this, “Because if they don’t people like you will be whining blah blah blah” :rolleyes: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/299 "2012-07-22T02:58:54Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Shooter supposedly dyed hair bright red. That would stand out on camera along with any of his swat gear he was wearing. Somebody noticed him going in! It was the premiere showing of a superhero movie. He probably could have walked in the front door with red hair, gas mask, kevlar, guns and all, and had a bunch of people tell him how awesome his costume was. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835/300 "2012-07-22T03:08:06Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > Hardly. But thx for pretending to think you know…well wait, pretending to think about covers it. Don’t insult other posters. No warning issued. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-people-shot-dead-at-batman-movie-screening-in-denver/628835.md?page=16)