Gunman Kills 12…wounds 59 at screening of “The Dark Knight Rises”

Details are coming in about a horrific shooting at the Century Theater in Aurora, Colorado.

A figure in a gas mask set off tear gas bombs about 15 minutes into a midnight showing of The Dark Knight before opening fire on the crowd watching the movie.

Police have told reporters that 12 people have died and 59 more were injured in the attack. 71 in total were shot, making it the largest mass shooting in U.S. history by casualties.

This death toll has been revised down from earlier statements about 14 dead, made at a press conference from local Police Chief Dan Oates at 5:15 AM ET this morning.

In a midday press conference, Oates named 24 year-old white male James Eagan Holmes as the sole suspect in the case. Police apprehended Holmes in the parking lot of the movie theater. 9News in Denver reports that the subject did not fight the arrest. Holmes has no criminal history beyond a single traffic violation.

Oates said that police are “confident” that Holmes acted alone, and said that they are no longer exploring the possibility that he acted in concert with an accomplice.

Oates also said that the shooter made statements to police about explosives at his apartment and car after being taken into custody. According to 9NEWS, a bomb robot found suspicious materials in his car.

Police have evacuated the suspect’s apartment building at East 17th Street and Peoria in Aurora, which remains surrounded by police. A representative for the FBI told reporters that the apartment is booby-trapped with explosive or flammable materials. They did not know how long it would take to secure the area, which includes five evacuated buildings.

The police chief called Holmes’s apartment a “difficult scene.” “We don’t know how we’re going to handle that,” Oates said, saying that the time frame for securing the location could take hours or could take days.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

University of Colorado—Denver police have evacuated two research buildings the suspect once worked in, according to CBS Denver.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Leading an all-star international cast, Christian Bale again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in a tale that pits him against the vicious Bane (Tom Hardy) and the crafty Catwoman (Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle.) Rounding out the cast are Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.. — (C) Warner Bros.