James Holmes (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)
The more information comes out about the “Batman shooter,” James Holmes, the more the standard narrative about what happened on midnight on Friday, July 20th, at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, is being questioned.
That narrative was outlined by The Wall Street Journal on the day after the shooting:
A gunman wearing a gas mask and sheathed head-to-toe in body armor opened fire in a theater packed for a midnight showing of a just-released Batman movie, killing at least 12 people and wounding 58 others.
Police in this suburb just east of Denver quickly arrested the alleged shooter, James E. Holmes, a 24-year-old graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Denver with no known criminal history other than a speeding violation.
The rampage began around 12:38 a.m. Friday at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater, which was crowded for the first showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
According to the Journal, Holmes had been preparing for the attack for months, buying his SWAT gear and weapons and ammunition online and in local stores as part of his plan. He also was able to procure various dangerous chemicals and high-tech electronic gadgetry along with the requisite training all of which he used to booby-trap his apartment before leaving on his rampage.
According to the popular media narrative, Holmes bought a ticket and sat down front on the first row, on the right, close to an emergency exit door. As the initial credits were rolling, Holmes was observed by two audience members taking a cell phone call and then getting up and using the exit door to go outside, presumably to take the call. In a few minutes he returned, this time all dressed up in SWAT gear from head to toe. As Aurora Chief of Police Dan Oates noted, Mr. Holmes “was dressed all in black. He was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask, and black tactical gloves.”
Upon re-entering the theater, Holmes threw two canisters of tear gas into the crowd, fired his shotgun into the air, and then began firing his semi-automatic rifle into the crowd. Apparently the audience members initially thought it was part of a stunt related to the movie, but then panic ensued, and people ran for the exits.
Tre Freeman, one of those in the audience, said “After that, it was pure chaos. People were ducking or running. We were on the floor and we couldn’t breathe. We thought we were either going to suffocate or get shot. So we thought the only thing we could do is run.”
It didn’t take long for the official narrative to begin to come unraveled. Two other members of the audience including Corbin Dates, told Aurora news outlets that when Holmes went outside to “take” his call, he seemed to be signaling somebody. After about ten minutes, “someone,” perhaps Holmes, appeared in full SWAT gear and started shooting. Another witness said that there were two tear gas canisters thrown, one by the shooter and one by another person from the other side of the theater.
When Holmes was found near (some reports indicate he was inside) his vehicle by police, he
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