trapped to kill. plus, stories of heroism among the gunfire, and chilling tales of survival. >> i was just thinking, we've got to get out. >> just a few millimeters in or sent meters in, and i don't think i would have left the theater. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now, explosives experts in aurora, colorado, are putting themselves in harm's way. they are trying to make sure the apartment left booby trapped by the suspect in the colorado shootings is finally saved. a few hours ago, we watched as crews carefully placeded a robot in the apartment and then waited for it to set off an explosion to take out the triggering devices for the many bombs and accelerants left inside. the suspect, 24-year-old james holmes, will be spending tonight in a county jail in suburban denver. he's scheduled to appear in court monday morning. a couple of hours ago, police disclosed holmes received what they call a, quote, high volume of deliveries in recent months. they think that's how he amassed the huge amount of ammunition for his attacks. cnn's ed lavendera is just outside the holmes' apartment complex in aurora. and what are the police and the bomb squads doing right now? >> reporter: well, wolf, it's been a very active last few hours here in this neighborhood. that red brick building you see behind me just to the left of that white truck, that is the building where 24-year-old james holmes lived. and that was where the apartment was that was trapped. they've spent a great deal of time. you heard that explosion. that was deliberately set off by the bomb squad here to begin to try to begin the process of dismantling the trip wires and what they call a very sophisticated setup inside that apartment that could have been very deadly. because of that, authorities now say that they feel that the major threats that were inside that apartment have been diffused, and it's not totally safe yet, but they can begin the process of removing all of the explosive materials that were inside holmes' apartment and they're beginning to take that out. but what's been clear to them, there's been a great and deliberate process by josh holmes to buy all of this material, get all of this material ready, and thoroughly plan out this attack. the police chief in aurora talked about that just a short time ago. >> we've become aware that our suspect over the last four months had a high volume of deliveries, commercial deliveries, of packages to both his work and home address. we think this begins to explain how he got his hands on all the magazines and the ammunition yesterday, that we talked about yesterday. we also think it gins to explain some of the materialse had in his -- in his apartment. >> reporter: my apologies, james holmes. i misspoke there. obviously, that is the suspect they're talking about. and one of the things that authorities here are talking about is that just the amount of material that he was able to order in the months leading up to this attack, including some 6,000 rounds of ammunition. and the scene that authorities have been describing, what they have found here in this apartment was very sophisticated. think about this. it's taken them more than 24 hours to get a handle on this, to be able to get into that apartment. in fact, wolf, there was a trip wire that was set along the door, and they say that had anyone unsuspectedly just opened up that door, it could have seriously injured someone if not killed them. and because of that, the authorities here not holding back their anger. extremely angry at the situation they found there inside that apartment. >> we talk about motive, we talk about defenses, we talk about deliberation. make no mistake, okay? this apartment was designed, i say, based on everything i've seen, to kill whoever entered it. okay? and who was most likely to enter that location after he planned and executed this horrific crime? it was going to be a police officer, okay? so make no mistake about it, what was going on there. and if you think we're angry, we sure as hell are angry, about what has happened to our city, what has happened to the wonderful people who live here, and also what he threatened to do to one of our police officers. >> reporter: wolf, that's the latest from james holmes' apartment area, where the situation has improved dramatically, but authorities say they will remain here for several more hours as they clean up that apartment and begin the search for more evidence. wolf? >> all those 6,000 rounds of ammunition, sophisticated guns, are police saying where this unemployed guy who just dropped out of a graduate school program at the university of colorado, where he was getting all this money? >> reporter: how he was paying for this isn't clear. it's a good yes. we're working on trying to figure out how he could have done that. there's, obviously, as you mentioned wolf, a great deal of money went into this. guns purchased at several area stories here in the denver area, plus all of the equipment that was bought online over the last few months. somehow, all of that had to have been paid for. and obviously, that is something authorities will take a closer look at as well. >> and the police are still not offering a motive, an alleged motive in this case, but we'll stand by. they haven't released a mug shot either, have they, yet? >> reporter: no, they haven't. that's interesting. and you know, obviously, i think perhaps authorities are sensitive to, you know, what that will look like. there's been a lot of talk that he, and reports that he did this, you know, he had his hair died red and he called himself the joker, you know, perhaps in the early stages of this, authorities have said that they're holding on to that for investigative reasons, and that's the reason they haven't released that. but you can imagine that for the victims of the shooting, seeing that mug shot and if this guy has, you know, red hair, that that will be very difficult for the victims and the victims' families to have to look at. >> and anyone who has any of the batman films, they know the joker is the villain. ed, stand by. james holmes' neighbors have spent the last 36 hours living in fear, evacuated from their homes and wondering who might happen next. our own poppy harlow and on the scene and she'll have their story in just a few minutes. we're also beginning to put faces with the names of some of those 12 who lost their lives in this unthinkable tragedy. alex sullivan was killed on his 27th birthday. his last tweet, "one hour to the movie and it's going to be the best birthday ever." micayla medek, her cousin says it took law enforcement 19 agonizing hours to notify them of her death. matt mcquinn, he died trying to shield his girlfriend, who survived. a.j. boik, he s with his girlfriend and another friend in the theater. according to the "denver post," 32-year-old rebecca wingo. her father says on facebook, and i'm quoting, rest in peace, my baby. jessica ghawi, an aspiring sports report, who just weeks ago narrowly avoided another mass shooting in toronto. also, two u.s. service members died. john thomas larimer, who had been serving his first post in the u.s. navy. and air force staff sergeant jesse childress, a reservist on active duty. and moments ago, we also learned about 24-year-old alex teves who just completed graduate school in june. our hearts go out to all of their families, indeed, to all of the victims' family and friends. along with the heartbreak over those who died, there are also extraordinary stories of survival emerging from this disaster. heroes who risked their lives to save others. >> josh helped me protect my wife and he got shot. >> josh nolan is one of those heroes, and cnn's kyung lah is joining us now from aurora with more on him. >> reporter: we spoke to him in his hospital room where he's still recovering from a bullet that wednesday through his arm and ended up breaking his leg. it's really quite extraordinary, the story he has to tell. 31-year-old josh nolan, a navy veteran and someone who's been deployed to iraq twice. when the bullets started flying, he left on top of his friends, shielding them from the bullets, and he says the only reason that he's alive, that his friends are alive, is because the gunman could not fire off every round. here's what he said. >> it was just a straight line shot. picking everybody up, from one aisle to the next. that's all he needed to do. >> do you think if that gun had not jammed, that you'd be here? >> i know i wouldn't be here. if that gun -- if that gun did not jam, i am fully certain that i probably would not be here. >> how are you feeling today? >> scared. you know, of course i'm glad it's over with and yes, i am glad i am alive, and i get to the see my kids, but then i also think about, you know, the other people that didn't -- that were not as lucky as i was. i mean, there was kids, mothers and fathers that was there. and they're dead. i'm still alive. i want to go back to that either, i want to go paback int that auditorium, look down that same seat and say, i beat you. you did not take this life. and, you know, i know the hopes and prayers and thoughts to all the other families that are suffering right now, it's just really hard to imagine. >> reporter: and the reason why mr. nowlan decided to speak with us today is because he wants people who are watching, people who are watching cnn to not focus so much on the gunman, but to remember all the people inside that theater and the extraordinary stories of survival, wolf. >> that's an amazing story, indeed. our hearts go out to all of these families and all of these survivors, obviously. the heroes and everyone else. kyung lah on the scene, thank you. >> the police said they're wrapping up their investigative work on the scene, and next, sorting through hundreds of personal items left by terrified moviegoers who ran out as quickly as they could. police will return wallets, purses, shoes to their owners or their families. they're hoping to hand the theater over to defense attorneys on tuesday and then on wednesday, let the theater owners back in once again. as for the suspect, james holmes, our teams are digging into his background. we're uncovering new details on what he did one summer, which may make some parents nervous. also, helping a community recover. we're talking live with aurora's congressman about the difficult days ahead. ♪ [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? 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>> i don't know of anything, other than what the police chief talked about an hour ago. just, you know, describing how elaborate he had booby trapped his apartment. some of the steps that he took in, you know, placing all of his weapons outside, going in and getting them, and just starting to mow people down. and what makes somebody want to do that, wolf, is anybody's guess. and you know, you just had an earlier clip about the victims and some of the heroics and bravery that we saw, even against a gunman with that type of weaponry, you know, wearing all that kevlar and bulletproof stuff. you know, aurorans and coloradans are generally a pretty tough breed and this hurts, there's no doubt about it. the victims in this tragedy, there's going to be a lot of healing, but we'll get through this, and it's already started. >> as far as we've hea, he was the one who alerted police that that apartment had, in fact, been booby trapped. as far as you know, is he cooperating with law enforcement right now? >> from what we've heard, one, he did alert them to the booby traps, and, you know, who knows why he booby trapped it and then alerted them. so there's no telling what's going on in this guy's mind, but he has been moved to the arapahoe county jail. and apparently he has a lawyer in place. he has, you know, to the degree he's sharing other things with law enforcement, they've been unwilling to let anybody else in on it. >> as far as the money is concerned, because he bought a lot of, what, 6,000 rounds of ammunition, sophisticated weapons. he had explosive devices in there. as far as i know, he was unemployed, 24 years old, had just dropped out of graduate school at the university of colorado in denver. do you have any idea, does anyone yet know where that money was coming from? >> well, we're seeing now many packages came to his apartment. obviously, he bought the assault rifle was expensive, the shotgun was expensive, the glocks were expensive, the 6,000 rounds of ammunition that he bought over the internet, obviously, cost a lot of money. and then the chemicals that apparently are all over his apartment all had to cost a lot. and packages, apparently, were coming into his apartment for the last couple three months. exactly where he got the money -- he was a graduate student at the university of colorado health sciences center. that's going to be part of the detective work and the investigation that goes forward. >> you're a lawmaker, obviously, in washington. what's the most immediate lesson you think washington, the fro federal government, should learn, should take away from what happened at that movie theater in aurora, as far as gun control in america is concerned. >> i'm going to start with a different lesson, and it's a lesson that we learned that started learning 13 years ago when we had columbine. which is, a joint response of different agencies from the firefighters to the police officers to the bomb squad, so the first responders, we had tremendous response, federal side and state side, all the communities working together, everybody on the same page. and that saved lives. so that is a lesson that was learned and was put into place. and in a terrible situation like we faced last night, it was put to good use, and i know it saved lives. now, with respect to the gun control question you asked, a second ago, you know, for me, the assault weapons ban should never have lapsed. i mean, i think we should have -- that should be in place. d i think we've got to take a good look at how he was able to acquire so much ammunition over the internet without any real question. >> no red flags, apparently went up, and nobody was investigating. these are important questions, we'll continue to investigate, i'm sure. local, state, federal authorities are already way deep into these investigations as well. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. and our deepest, deepest condolences to your constituents in aurora, colorado. appreciate it. >> thanks, wolf. and i just ask you guys to hold all of aurorans and especially the families that were directly impacted in your thoughts and prayers and your station has been great in focusing on the bravery of the first responders and the mourning and grief we must go through for the victims. >> couldn't agree more. thank you, congressman. appreciate it. here's a quick programming note, by the way. tomorrow morning, candy crowley will interview the colorado governor, john hickenlooper, that's on "state of the union," 9:00 a.m. eastern, right here on cnn. up next here in "the situation room," living next to an accused mass murderer. >> i never imagined something like this. i mean, who does? 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[ ping! ] ♪ hi. totally new, awesomely-invisible tampax radiant. check out the whole radiant collection. right now police are still on the scene of the booby trapped apartment of the accused mass murderer, james holmes. police say it was, quote, designed to kill, so imagine how terrifying it must be for the neighbors who were living close by. cnn's poppy harlow is on the scene for us. she caught up with some of those neighbors forced of their homes for their own protection. they're still out of their homes right now, might be for a while. poppy, what's going on? >> reporter: well, wolf, we've been here since about 3:00 in the morning, local time, and the bomb squad started to arrive, again, very early here today. the fbi, atf, local police and fire officials, chemists from across the country. their one mission, jointly, was to disarm this booby trapped apartment of suspected shooter james holmes. but because of all of the activity, all of the present danger, people in that building, surrounding that building, were forced to leave. >> it's still frightening, because we don't know when we can go home. they said it could be tonight, it couldn't be another couple of days. >> reporter: forced to evacuate, following friday's horrific mass movie theater shooting, paul mcqueen is shaken, his children, terrified. their apartment building right next to the suspected shooter's. for those who live here, forced to leave their home, it has been a day fl of angst and questions. >> first and foremost is, we need to render the area safe. the most immediate threat is the trip wire. >> reporter: two hours later, progress. >> we have been successful in defeating the first threat, which includes defeating the trip wire and the first incendiary device. >> reporter: but also, this. >> this trip wire was set up to clearly detonate when someone entered that apartment, and it was set up to kill that person. >> reporter: caitlin fonz