James Holmes, the doctoral student at the university's Anschutz campus who opened fire at the July 20th midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," was charged with 24 counts of first-degree murder on Monday, July 30th. Just minutes after Holmes opened fire on the theater killing 12 and leaving 58 wounded, he was arrested in the parking lot. In addition to the 24 counts of first-degree murder, he also faces 116 accounts of attempted murder (Francescani). .
Holmes dressed up as the Joker, Batman's nemesis in the popular comic books, donned tactical body armor and a gas mask, and tossed smoke bombs in the packed theater. When chaos broke out, he opened fire with three guns - a Smith & Wesson M&P .223 semi-automatic rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a Glock .40-caliber handgun. An additional Glock .40-caliber was found in his car afterwards. All of his guns were bought legally in the past two months. Holmes then directed authorities to his apartment, where they spent several days disengaging the explosives and booby traps that could have destroyed the three-story building (Francescani). .
Holmes appeared for the second time in court clad in his bright orange hair, although parts of it had faded to pink. He appeared much more lucid than he did in his first appearance, where he seemed dazed. He kept his head down during the entire trial, only replying once to a question from the judge. Holmes was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for each victim, one for shooting "after deliberation" and one for "malice manifesting extreme indifference to human life." Under a "gag" order from Judge William Sylvester, prosecutors are not allowed to give their reasoning behind the double charges, but it is most likely to give an advantage to the jurors to decide upon a guilty verdict (Francescani). .
A pre-trial hearing is set for September 27. On August 9th, attorneys representing news organizations will be allowed to request court records and investigative documents.
