James Holmes’ Photos Released
Photos of the man who walked into a Colorado showing of the The Dark Knight Rises and opened fire on innocent people have been released. James Holmes, 24, is the man who was arrested this morning after killing at least a dozen people and injuring an estimated 50 more. As previously reported, police believe Holmes donned black body armor and a gas mask when he walked through an emergency exit and began firing at moviegoers at random. Police also believe he released some sort of smoke or tear gas bomb.
Since this morning’s tragedy, news on Holmes has continued to roll in. He was originally identified as a Colorado man with ties to the tea party political movement but that report turned out to be untrue. Instead Holmes is said to be a former University of Colorado student. The institution reports that Holmes enrolled in their graduate school of medicine in the fall of 2011, but withdrew last month. His mother, Arlene Holmes of Rancho Penasquitos, California has also been identified. “You have the right person,” said Arlene Holmes to ABC News about her son. “I need to call police, I need to fly out to Colorado,” she added.
Since news of the shooting broke, there’s been speculation that Holmes was emulating the villain, Bane, in The Dark Knight Rises. Bane reigns terror on innocent people while wearing a gas mask in the Christopher Nolan film. Now, there are reports that an obviously deranged Holmes told authorities that he was “The Joker,” the fictional character that Batman defeated in the second installment of the Batman trilogy. During a news conference this afternoon, James Kelly, the police commissioner of New York City, told reporters about Holmes’ Joker confession. “We have some information, most of it is public,” said Kelly. “It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red, he said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman.” Kelly is said to have gotten his information from Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates, the two are good friends.
Check out two photos of James Holmes below. –danielle canada
