VICTIMS OF COLORADO BATMAN PREMIERE SHOOTING MOURNED

A candlelit vigil has been held in Aurora, Colorado,
as the US begins to mourn the people killed by a
gunman at a showing of the new Batman film, the
Dark Knight Rises.
US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at
half mast.
A gunman wearing a full
suit of tactical body
armor, a helmet and a
gas mask opened fire at
a packed midnight
showing of the Dark
Knight Rises in a Denver
suburb on Friday, killing
12 people after setting
off two smoke bombs in
the dark theater.
Armed with an assault
rifle, a shotgun and a
pistol, the black-clad
gunman wounded 58
others in the shooting rampage at at a mall in
Aurora, turning the movie screening into a chaotic
scene of dead or bleeding victims, horrified
screams and pleas for help, witnesses said.
Officers who arrived on scene within 90 seconds of
the first emergency calls quickly took
suspect James Eagan Holmes, 24, into custody in a
parking lot behind the cinema, where he
surrendered without a fight, Aurora Police Chief
Dan Oates said.
He will appear at Arapahoe County District Court,
in nearby Centennial, Colorado, on Monday at
09:30 local time (15:30 GMT).
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Aurora for the
vigil.
Candles and flowers were left on the lawn. One
letter read: "To all the innocent souls… This is for
you. We will never forget. This is Aurora."
At the Queen of Peace Roman Catholic church,
Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila told mourners:
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted. The heart of our Father is stronger than
the bullets that killed 12 people."
In a briefing at the end of the day in Colorado, an
emotional Governor John Hickenlooper confirmed
that the casualty figure had been revised down
one, to 70 people killed or injured.
Thirty people remained in hospital, Mr
Hickenlooper said, with 11 of those in a critical
condition.
"It's an act that defies description. Everyone I've
talked to all day is filled with an anger that can't
find focus," he said.








-BBC