A GUNMAN wearing a gas mask has killed 12 people when he opened fire at a Colorado cinema on the opening night of the latest Batman movie.
At least 50 others were injured in the attack, which police intially reported had killed 14.
The gunman was named by police as 24-year-old James Holmes. FBI spokesman Jason Pack said there was no indication so far of any connection to terrorism. President Barack Obama said he was “shocked and saddened” by the “horrific and tragic” shooting. It was apparently the worst mass shooting in the US since the 2007 shooting on the Virginia Tech campus. The gunman stood at the front of the cinema and fired into the crowd. He was later taken into custody near a car behind the cinema. “Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound, and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference. Mr Fania told ABC that investigators do not believe anyone else was involved. Emergency crews rushed to the scene after frantic calls started flooding the switchboard.
