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US shooting suspect silent, dazed in 1st hearing
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2012, Tuesday
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Looking dazed and with bright orange hair, the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at a Colorado cinema appeared in court yesterday for the first time.
James Holmes, wide-eyed and unshaven, his head bobbing slightly, appeared not to speak during the hearing. He will be formally charged next Monday.
Authorities say the 24-year-old former graduate student is refusing to cooperate, and it could take months to learn what prompted one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
A prosecutor said her office is considering pursuing the death penalty. Carol Chambers said a decision will be made in consultation with victims' families.
Holmes has been in solitary confinement since the shooting. He is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and could face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Holmes began buying guns nearly two months before the shooting and recently bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said.
During the attack last Friday, Holmes allegedly set off gas canisters and used a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to open fire, Oates said.
The rifle jammed during the attack, forcing the gunman to switch to another gun with less firepower.
Holmes' apartment was filled with trip wires, explosive devices and unknown liquids, requiring police, FBI officials and bomb squad technicians to evacuate surrounding buildings and spending most of Saturday disabling the booby traps.
Investigators have said they found a Batman mask inside.
As authorities rushed to piece together Holmes' background, the owner of a gun range told reporters that Holmes applied to join the club last month but never became a member because of his behavior and a "bizarre" message on his voice mail.
When Lead Valley Range owner Glenn Rotkovich called to invite Holmes to a mandatory orientation, he said he heard a message on Holmes' voice mail that was "guttural, freakish at best." He told his staff to watch out for Holmes at the orientation and not to accept him into the club, Rotkovich said.
Officials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus were looking into whether Holmes, a former doctoral student in neuroscience, used his position to collect hazardous materials. Holmes quit the program in June.
Ritchie Duong, a friend who has known Holmes for more than a decade, told the Los Angeles Times he last saw Holmes in December and he seemed fine. Academics came easily to Holmes, Duong said. "I had one college class with him, and he didn't even have to take notes or anything."
Sunday was a day for healing and remembrance in Aurora. Several thousand people attended a prayer vigil, and President Barack Obama visited families of the victims.
Obama said he told the families that "all of America and much of the world is thinking about them."
James Holmes, wide-eyed and unshaven, his head bobbing slightly, appeared not to speak during the hearing. He will be formally charged next Monday.
Authorities say the 24-year-old former graduate student is refusing to cooperate, and it could take months to learn what prompted one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
A prosecutor said her office is considering pursuing the death penalty. Carol Chambers said a decision will be made in consultation with victims' families.
Holmes has been in solitary confinement since the shooting. He is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and could face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Holmes began buying guns nearly two months before the shooting and recently bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said.
During the attack last Friday, Holmes allegedly set off gas canisters and used a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to open fire, Oates said.
The rifle jammed during the attack, forcing the gunman to switch to another gun with less firepower.
Holmes' apartment was filled with trip wires, explosive devices and unknown liquids, requiring police, FBI officials and bomb squad technicians to evacuate surrounding buildings and spending most of Saturday disabling the booby traps.
Investigators have said they found a Batman mask inside.
As authorities rushed to piece together Holmes' background, the owner of a gun range told reporters that Holmes applied to join the club last month but never became a member because of his behavior and a "bizarre" message on his voice mail.
When Lead Valley Range owner Glenn Rotkovich called to invite Holmes to a mandatory orientation, he said he heard a message on Holmes' voice mail that was "guttural, freakish at best." He told his staff to watch out for Holmes at the orientation and not to accept him into the club, Rotkovich said.
Officials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus were looking into whether Holmes, a former doctoral student in neuroscience, used his position to collect hazardous materials. Holmes quit the program in June.
Ritchie Duong, a friend who has known Holmes for more than a decade, told the Los Angeles Times he last saw Holmes in December and he seemed fine. Academics came easily to Holmes, Duong said. "I had one college class with him, and he didn't even have to take notes or anything."
Sunday was a day for healing and remembrance in Aurora. Several thousand people attended a prayer vigil, and President Barack Obama visited families of the victims.
Obama said he told the families that "all of America and much of the world is thinking about them."
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