Colorado Theater Shooting

Colorado Theater Shooting, The suspect in the Colorado shooting Friday was described as a shy but polite, highly intelligent young man with a gift for science. He grew up in an affluent suburb of San Diego, played soccer and ran cross-country in high school, and graduated with honors at UC Riverside with a degree in neuroscience.

Few details in the emerging sketch of James E. Holmes — the 24-year-old alleged to have killed at least 12 people and injured 58 others at a movie theater — offer any answer to the question Americans find themselves once again asking after a gun rampage: Why?

Friends and neighbors were baffled, and Holmes left no clues online as to his potential motives or mental state. Authorities say he bo**y-trapped his apartment in Aurora, Colo., with explosives and chemical devices, and they were still working to disable them late Friday before they could collect evidence that might yield insight into his thinking.

The suspect had been pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora for a year, but had begun the process of withdrawing from the program last month, officials said. It is not clear what triggered his decision to drop out, although some reports suggested he was having troubles with his studies.

The attack appears to have been carefully planned. Carrying an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a shotgun and two Glock pistols, the killer walked into a multiplex theater screening the new Batman movie,”The Dark Knight Rises,”with dyed red hair and saying he was the Joker, according to law enforcement. He wore a gas mask, a ballistics helmet and vest, and groin, throat and leg protectors. He released two smoke- or gas-emitting devices, and then opened fire, shooting at anyone who tried to escape. He was arrested without incident near a white Hyundai in a parking lot nearby. (Los Angeles Times)