Aurora, Colo. Mayor Steve Hogan began this afternoon’s press update on the Aurora theater shootings by crediting first responders for the “silver lining” that more lives weren’t lost. “These first responders can’t be thanked enough,” he said.
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Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper praised the ability of all the law enforcement agencies on site to work together as “simply put, just incredible.” He said that he and staff members visited victims in the hospital, and some even went to local theaters last night as a statement against intimidation.
Gov. John Hickenlooper said the emergency team response was incredible. Ambulance crews got there in 2.5 min. #theatershooting
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) July 21, 2012
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FBI Special Agent Jim Yacone gave an update on the work being done to clear Holmes’s apartment of “multiple booby traps and incendiary devices” as well as other evidence, adding that work today had gone “very, very well.”
@DenverChannel @MarcKMGH: Breaking: FBI says IEDs found in apartment. Multiple booby traps. #TheaterShooting @demverchannel
— @MarcReporting (@MarcReporting) July 21, 2012
Went very, very well. Threat not completely eliminated, but significantly reduced.#TheaterShooting
— KKTV 11 News (@KKTV11News) July 21, 2012
Yacone said the bomb squad first made entry with a robot driven by an Adams Co. bomb technician, encountering a trip wire across the door. Cameras revealed triggering mechanisms, multiple containers with accelerants and fuses.
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Yacone said the process was “very, very calculated” as well as “slow and methodical” to preserve evidence from the scene. Evidence collected will be sent to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Va.
Officials won't go into tactics, techniques and procedures because they don't want to jeopardize prosecution. #TheaterShooting @SieraSantos
— KOAA News5 (@KOAA) July 21, 2012
Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates reported that suspect James Holmes had received a “high volume of commercial deliveries” to his apartment recently, suggesting the deliveries might be “evidence of some calculation and deliberation.”
He added that all personal effects, such as wallets, IDs and clothing left by people as they fled the theater, had been cleared from the theater and would be made available to families on Monday unless needed as evidence. Holmes’s defense team would be allowed into the theater on Tuesday, and the theater would be handed back to its owners on Wednesday.
Hope to be out of theater Monday and allow the defense to go through it on Tuesday. Can be open for public as early as Wed.#TheaterShooting
— KKTV 11 News (@KKTV11News) July 21, 2012
Oates gave an update on the investigation at the University of Colorado campus where Holmes had been a student. After a thorough search of biohazardous and radioactive materials used in research labs, nothing was determined to be missing. The campus was swept yesterday by bomb dogs and had returned to “business as usual” today.
There are concerns as to what suspect had access to at research facility but nothing missing. #TheaterShooting (via @SieraSantos)
— KOAA News5 (@KOAA) July 21, 2012
Oates theorized that the booby traps in the apartment were set specifically for police and first responders, as the were the people most likely to enter. “If you think we’re angry, we sure as hell are angry,” he said, adding there was “no question” what the intent was in setting the traps.
"If you think we are angry, we are sure as hell angry," said Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates. #theatershooting
— Matt Flener KMBC (@MattFlenerKMBC) July 21, 2012
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Residents of the four buildings adjoining Holmes’s apartment are expected to return home sometime this evening.
Aurora Fire Department Chief Mark Garcia spoke briefly and encourged the community to “go out into your city, don’t be afraid.”
AFD Chief: What makes Aurora an all-American city is how we handle this crisis. Go out: go to movies, enjoy city. #theatershooting
— Megan Verlee (@CPRverlee) July 21, 2012
Aurora FD Chief Mike Garcia: "the courage, professionalism of our firefighters is remarkable." #theatershooting
— Arash Mosaleh (@ArashMosaleh) July 21, 2012
A complete and official list of victims is expected as early as this evening.
Aurora PD Chief: "the names of the deceased victims will be released by the coroner…might be sometime Saturday afternoon" #theatershooting
— Arash Mosaleh (@ArashMosaleh) July 21, 2012
Chief Oates: Names of the victims killed in the #theatershooting may be released by the coroner as soon as this afternoon
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) July 21, 2012
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