Police find gunman's house was 'designed to kill'
After clearing “all hazards” from the booby-trapped apartment of a gunman who went on a shooting spree at a US cinema hall, police entered the “designed to kill” house where the suspect had planned the deadly attack with “calculation and deliberation” for months.
Two days after 12 people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and 58 others wounded during the premiere of new Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” at an Aurora theatre in Denver, Colorado, US President Barack Obama was set to visit the injured and families who lost their loved ones.
On Saturday night, investigators carried out “controlled detonation” in Holmes’ booby-trapped one-bedroom apartment after which they entered the house in a bid to find out clues to the motive behind the deadly attack. At least 30 improvised explosive devices were found when police entered the Denver apartment of Holmes, who was arrested after the shooting.
Police said Holmes may have been planning the attack for a long time as he received a high volume of deliveries over the past four months to both his home and work addresses.
“What we’re seeing here is evidence of, I think, some calculation and deliberation,” Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said. “We have the evidence of a deliberative process to commit this assault, and we have the evidence of a deliberative process in his mind to attack whoever opened the door of his apartment.”
“Make no mistake,” Oates said, “this apartment was designed to kill whoever entered it.”
Police had evacuated hundreds of residents from five apartment buildings, including the one where Holmes lived, after he told them he had rigged his apartment with explosives.
Studio cancels premieres
Meanwhile, Warner Bros has decided not to publish weekend box office figures for
“The Dark Knight Rises” besides cancelling red carpet events in the wake of the massacre.
The entertainment industry is beside itself in mourning and the usual importance of BO numbers is being set aside, reported Variety.
Warner Bros. announced Friday that it would not be reporting grosses out of the respect for the victims, and so far Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and Universal have followed suit in solidarity.
