Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20120721 : vimarsan

CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 July 21, 2012



not the suspect whose name we will tell you and we will tell you what we know about him coming up. but the 71 people he's accused of attempting to kill. 12 who have died. we know only one so far by name, this woman, jessica ghawi, a journalist and blogger who also went by the name of jessica redfield. she narrowly escaped a shooting last month in toronto. she was 24 years old. i'll talk to her brother shortly tonight in the hour ahead. she's the only fatality identified so far. we would tell you more of their names, more of who they were, because we think it's important tonight to focus on the victims in this. yes, we'll tell you about the shooter and, yes, we'll talk about how he got access to weapons. all those kinds of debates perhaps can wait at least for though hour. we want to focus on the victims and those who have survived. there were military personnel as well in the theater, in theater number nine, at the century 16 complex last night. one sailor's unaccounted for, presumably killed, along with ten others. their families either have or will be notified. they'll be mourned and their stories told. so many -- so many stories will emerge tonight of survival, of loss, of the tragically fine and random line between the the two. between good and bad fortune. between hugging a loved one who made it out safely and burying one who didn't. people spent the day at a police staging area. not knowing if their son or daughter, mother, father, was dead or alive. waiting for word. hours ago, we were told that the ten victims who were killed inside that theater were still inside the theater. we haven't got be any updates of that. for all we know right now, they are still there, inside theater number nine. there were a lot -- there's a lot to get you up to date. take a look at this. people quickly realized what initially appeared to be some kind of promotional stunt for the batman premiere, that's what some people thought, was in fact a shooting, what turned into a massacre. we'll tell as best we can the suspect's story. searching for clues to what motivated james holmes. authorities say to suit up in body armor, grab tear gas and unleash three firearms and shoot 71 people and leave a booby trapped apartment rigged to explode for authorities to defuse. our randi kaye is there and we'll take you there shortly. we'll tell you who the suspect is. a guy who told police he was the joker. apparently dyed his hair red. we'll tell you where he the ball t bought the weapons he allegedly used. we're going to look at how this story fits with and differs from what we've come to expect. and how people here are coping nationwide. flags are flying at half-staff. this is a state, a country, in mourning. both president obama and mitt romney have suspended campaigning for the moment. the president was awakeneded about 5:30 with the news. spoke about it earlier this morning. take a look. >> we will take every step possible to ensure the safety of all of our people. we're going to stand by our neighbors in colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time. i had a chance to speak with the mayor of aurora as well as the governor of colorado to express not just on behalf of michelle and myself but the entire american family how heart broken we are. >> a short time later, mitt romney offered his condolences. >> each one of us will hold our kids a little closer, linger a bit longer with a colleague or a neighbor, reach out to a family member or friend. we'll all spend a little less time thinking about the worries of our day. and more time wondering about how to help those who are in need of compassion most. >> well, that sentiment and the president's, they both speak volu volumes. we bring you late developments throughout the hour and throughout the night. just after midnight last night. what we know about what happened inside theater nine. take a look. it's about 12:30 a.m. 20 minutes or so into the soldout premiere of "the dark knight rises." a gunman dressed head to toe enters through a door which he propped open earlier. the canister ignites causing confusion among theater goers who don't yet realize the danger they're in. >> when this popping started happening, i thought it was fireworks, like someone playing a prank or joke or something, you know, but then some smoke started rising in the lower right corner of the theater. >> witnesses say the gunman enters the theater, first fired at the ceiling, then turns his gun on the crowd. >> when he went straight for the air, he came down with his gun in my face. in that instant, i honestly didn't know what to do. >> the terror spreads. eyewitnesss describe the gunman as, quote, calmly firing into the crowd. >> somehow, i got my little sister. i grab her. then we just go down on the ground. hiding below, like, the chairs. the guy's just standing right by the exit, just firing away. he's not aiming at a specific person. he's just aiming everywhere. trying to hit as many people as he can. all i remember is, like, i was down be the ground. i was covering myself. right when i was going up, like the tear gas was getting me. my eyes were, like, watery. i was, like, crying. felt weird. felt like i was bleeding from my nose. it was hard to breathe. i kept on going down. like ducking down. telling my sister to go forward. pushing her forward. where there's like guys, girls, running on top of me, jumping away from the seats, just trying to escape it the guy was firing. like the shooting lasted probably like a minute or two minutes. >> the gunman doesn't discriminate. children are also shot. this mother's wounded in the leg as she tried to escape the nfire with her 4-month-old son and 4-year-old daughter. >> i just grabbed the baby and i just drugged -- i just grabbed my daughter and just got her out as fast as i could and just ran out. i didn't turn around. i didn't look behind me. i just got out. then there was a moment where my daughter -- tripped and i just pulled her up, dragging her, just thinking, we got to get out. i just got to get out the doors. even if i just fall dead, just get my kids out here. it was -- it was just so horrible. >> the first calls come into 911. >> 315 and 314, first shooting at century theaters. they're saying somebody's shoot in the auditorium. >> police arrive within 90 seconds to soon learn that 71 people have been wounded. the cell phone video shows panicked and bloody victims streaming out of the theater. inside, ten people are dead. >> we need rescue inside the auditorium, multiple victims. >> i got seven down in theater nine! seven down! >> i've got a child victim. i need rescue at the back door, theater nine, now. >> two more victims later die at the hospital. bringing the death toll so far to 12. >> there was this one guy who was on all fours crawling, there was this girl spitting up blood. there were bullet holes in some people's backs, some people's arms. there was this one guy who was stripped down to like his boxers. it looked like he had been shot, like, in the back. >> the suspect is spotted standing by a white car in the parking lot of the theater. >> i need a marked car behind the theater stable side, the suspect in a gas mask. everyone, hold the air, one second. cars where that white car in the rear of the lot is that our suspect? >> yes! we've got rifles, gas masks. he's detained right now. i've got an open door going into the theater. >> within seven minutes of the first 911 call, the gunman surrenders to police. he's identified as 24-year-old james holmes. a student in the process of withdrawing from the university of colorado's neuroscience ph.d. program. holmes, who lives just four miles from the movie theater, tells police he's left a bomb in his third floor apartment. >> we are not sure what we're dealing with in the home. they appear to be incendiary die cea devices. there's some chemical elements there, also some incendiary elements. they're linked together with all kinds of wires. it's not something i've ever seen before. >> police won't speculate on a motive for holmes who's now in custody awaiting his first court appearance on monday. obviously, the theater now over my shoulder is closed off. police are scouring it. nearby, as i said about four miles from here at the suspect's apartment, there was also another police cordon where they -- bomb units are on the scene. they're very carefully trying to figure out how to defuse whatever devices may be inside mr. holmes apartment. our randi kaye's there. we'll go to her shortly. a city recently named as one of the ten safest in the country. some are taken as a sign of america's ongoing epidemic of violence. it simply under scores deranged acts of mass murder can and do happen anywhere. whether it's a massacre at a youth camp in norway. 'the shoeing in a mall in toronto. a shooting at a school. or last night this, last night here. joining me now are two survivors. both of whom were in theater number nine. where were you sitting? >> we were sitting close to the emergency exit that he entered in. we were about four rows back on the flatter plain of the thea r theater. because it's split into two sections. the raised section and the very front. >> what did you first see? >> we saw him kick off the door and him take a couple steps forward and plant his feet very wide apart and look around. all in the span of like three seconds. >> did you see him in a gas mask? >> yeah, he was wearing a gas mask, wearing the full armor. he had arm pads and leg pads. he was taking very wide steps because of that. he seemed to be struggling with all the weight. i saw the huge gun he was carrying. and the canister of gas that he lobbed over the audience. >> marcus, where were you sitting, what did you see? >> when he first came out, after the smoke bomb went across the theater and it hit the other side and it was smoking and smelling. we all thought maybe it was a, you know, a prank or something that went along with the movie. the next two shots hit the front row. almost like it hit the iron. made like it was fireworks. and then the barrage of shots started changing out. all you could see is the dust from the -- the smoke bomb or the -- the spray. and just him shooting and just this white light and this huge, like, boom, boom, boom. and it went off six to eight times. and so at that point, my friend rebecca and the people next to me, we ducked for cover. and we were behind -- just a little -- it would seem like it was only like six inches of seat from the next step down in the stadium seating. so we just held on for dear life, hoping the bullets didn't hit us. it was hitting chairs. it was hitting people. >> when did you realize you had been hit? >> i didn't realize i was hit till actually i got outside. >> so you didn't feel the bullet enter you? >> no, i think i had such an adrenaline rush till i got outside and everybody was coming, are you injured, are you injured? >> because your shirt was bloody? >> yeah, i got sprayed with some bullets right there. >> and how is your arm now? >> well, it's got -- still got the two holes right there, where they entered. >> this is where the bullet entered? >> fortunate it didn't enter anywhere else. the shrapnel still inside my shoulder. >> are they going to take that out? >> they said they're going to wait. because it's a complicated surgery because of the muscle. >> how was your friend? >> she's still missing. her name is rebecca wingo. there was a report on good will where they were looking on the internet. they've been search the hospitals. she's yet to be found. what happened was when we got up off the ground, there was a moment where he stopped shooting. and so i picked her up and she had blood all over her face. and her body was bloodied. she was unconscious. i tried to pick her up and get her through the row but there were people trampling over the seating coming down. there were people in my aisle who were, like, laying down, injured, dead, crying. i mean, it was awful. so i ended up tripping and then had to set her down. at that point, i realized once he started shooting again, that's when probably i might have got the injury because when i was laying down, i was on this side where the bullets were coming so it had to be during that period. then i ran out and there were three other movies trying to merge to get out the door. it was just a mess when -- >> you actually went into theater number eight. what happened when you realized what was going on? >> like marcus said, i thought it was a joke at first. i thought it was a prank being pulled by maybe the theater. because he came in through the emergency exit. so i thought he needed some key from the staff. once i realized it wasn't -- >> he apparently had come in with all of you, with the audience and then had left and left the door ajar, that's the latest report. >> yes, and during that pause, everyone on the lower part of the theater had hit the floor. and in that pause that we heard -- 'cause it was just rapid gunfire and then sudly it was silence and everyone bolted as fast as they could. >> did, there's a report from the police his hair had been dyed red. did you see it? >> no, he was covered head to toe. he was wearing like a riot mask and a helmet and a gas mask and he had goggles underneath the gas mask so even if you saw through the plexiglass you wouldn't be able to see, make out anything -- >> when you got outside, you actually tried to help other people? >> yeah, i got separated from all my friends. i didn't know what to do. i was on my way over to where we had parked the car. hoping that we would meet there. and on my way there, the first responders, the very fir police squad cars to arrive there, the police just journump out and ran straight into the theater. a man was asking the police to help him. he was covered in blood. his whole face and his whole arm. he was asking for help but no one stopped to help him. i thought i have to at least talk to him. i'm not trained in paramedics at all but i should talk to him. he had been hit in the head. i thought he was just grazed because there was only a small scratch. but when i looked again, i realized that it was very, very swollen and there seemed to be discolored tissue. so i don't know if -- if the bullet penetrated his skull or anything but i told him he needed to put pressure on the wound. i don't know if that was right to tell him. i was trying to calm him down. he said he couldn't feel his arm. he was panicking. i told him, you know, it's okay, you're all right. there's not a hole in your skull. he kept saying, is there a hole in my head, is there a hole in my head, and i -- >> how are your friends? >> my friends are all okay, thank god. the six of us were in a group. miraculously, we found each other. two of them ran from the theater to my house which is about two miles away. and we thought they were dead. again, we were, like, two feet away from the gunmen. when he started moving up the aisle, we were maybe five feet away from him, so i thought for sure they were gone. it was absolute pandemonium. >> how are you both holding up? i mean, i know you haven't had any sleep, it's been -- >> i haven't been able to sleep. i've been, you know, just thinking about everything that's happened and about my friend, who we have yet to contact. i'm thankful for my family back in virginia and my family here. i'm just thankful -- i thank the lord i'm alive and i know that, like, even through all this, that we can grow, still, as a community and maybe this will be a binding force for us because something just -- it's sinister as evil like that, it makes you afraid to even go to the movie theater which is something we all were enjoying. we were all clapping at the beginning of the previews, remember, and at the start of the movie. it was young kids there. kids ages 13 through 25. and they'd probably been saving up money the whole summer to go to this movie. or waiting for this one event at midnight where their parents let them go. and now it's just -- it's just -- it's destroyed. >> it says something about both of you and so many of the people in the theater that in the midst of this horror you reached out to try to help your friend and you reached out to help a stranger. i just want to thank you for talking to us. i'm so glad you guys are okay. >> thank you. >> all right, stay strong. we've talked to so many people and heard from so many people like marcus and like emma who were able to get out. and who immediately tried to turn and help others. and these first responders who got to the scene really quickly. as you heard from emma, saying rushed directly right into the theater. there are a lot of people whose bravery we want to talk about tonight. let us know what you think about this. follow me on twitte twitter @andersoncooper. join the conversation on our blog at ac360.com. police say the suspect turned his apartment into a time bomb. efforts are still under way to defuse it. we're going to take you to that scene. four miles from here. live pictures you're looking at. >> i just remember thinking i'm not going to die in here. me and my kids, we're not going to die in here, i need to get them out. all i could think is if i stand up, he's going to shoot, because that's what he was doing. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. to experience the ultimate expression of power -- control. ♪ during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. get great values on some of our newest models. with two times the points onake lunch dining in restaurants,ch? you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? welcome back. i'm coming to you live from aurora, colorado. a state, frankly, in shock, in mourning at this hour. still try to comprehend what occurred just over my shoulder at the movie theater earlier this morning. our breakg news tonight. the aftermath of the deadly shooting here in aurora, colorado. and the tricky effort you are looking at right here to try to defuse the suspect's booby trapped home. we don't know what devices are inside the home. this is occurring about four miles from the movie theater. four miles away is where the suspect, mr. holmes, lived. randi kaye is near the apartment, a safe distance away. police have cord bed off the whole area. she joins us now. what is going on there? what what's the latest? >> i can tell you, they have this whole area taped off with crime scene tape so nobody can get too close. let me show you the scene i'm talking about, the apartment. there, on the third floor, is the apartment. you can tell there are some windows broken out. i'm going to take out my ear piece here just because i'm hearing myself a little bit. but i'll tell you what's happening. law enforcement says this place is completely rigged. booby trapped. there are incendiary chemicals and devices inside. in fact, james holmes told them when he was questioned in the parking lot that he had put some explosives, left some explosives there in his apartment. he wasn't kid. in fact, anderson, it is so dangerous here, they had to send in robots earlier today with tiny cameras to take a look at what's happening inside. they fou

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