Gunman in black entered, opened fire
James Wilburn was sitting in the second row of Theater 9 after midnight, when the emergency door to his right opened and a man entered.
“He was dressed in black,” Wilburn said, “Wearing a flack jacket and a gas mask.”
The man was carrying a shotgun and had a rifle strapped to his back, Wilburn said. Then the man dropped a canister to the floor and a noxious gas spewed out. He raised the shotgun and repeatedly fired toward the back of the theater.
Wilburn and three friends dove to the floor, hiding behind the seatbacks in front of them. The gunman was only five or six feet away, the Aurora resident said. Everyone was running while the movie, which had only started a few minutes before, played on.
Once the shotgun was empty, the gunman calmly dropped it to the floor, took the rifle and went on firing. Wilburn heard 30-some shots.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Naya Thompson and her 22-year-old boyfriend Derrick Poage were running for their lives.
She said the gas spread and the gunman may have dropped two canisters.
“It was like a tear gas,” Thompson said. “I was coughing and choking and I couldn’t breathe.”
Hours afterward, Poage had blood splashed on his pants.
He was in his stocking feet because he had lost his shoes as he fled the theater.
-Kurtis A. Lee
Follow breaking news unfold about this tragedy today at denverpost.com.
This is a horrible event. My prayers go out to the dead and wounded and their families.
The growing concern for the safety of our children, and ourselves, as we engage in normal life activities causes us what to consider “normal” for personal safety preparedness. Is it too much to think about having a lightweight body armor panel in your backpack when you go to the movies, the mall, the grocery store?
Hi Bill — would you be interested in sharing your thoughts about this today?? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/live321 – shoot me an email! kate.balch@huffingtonpost.com
How absolutely horrible…… What the heck is wrong with people……
[...] currently holed up in my childhood home in Canada but the shock and tragedy of the Aurora theater shootings are reverberating thousands of miles [...]