Ex-Ann Arbor police chief Dan Oates leads investigation into Colorado 'Dark Knight' massacre
Recent developments:
• Shooting suspect's apartment 'booby-trapped'; area evacuated
• Shooting victim narrowly missed gunfire last month
• Witnesses describe shooting scene
Note: The number of victims is now reported as 12 this morning, reduced from 14. That number was changed in this story.
Former Ann Arbor Police Chief Dan Oates is in the national spotlight Friday morning after his officers in Aurora, Colo., arrested the gunman accused of killing 12 and wounding at least 50 in a theater screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."
Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates talks to media at Aurora Mall where as many as 14 people were killed and many injured at a shooting at the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo.
The Associated Press
The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora that was showing the new Batman movie, the Associated Press reports.
"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Oates told reporters at a news conference, according the AP account.
Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said. The suspected gunman was taken into custody behind the theater.
Details on the crime and the suspect were still unfolding as of Friday morning. There was no immediate word of any motive.
The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates told reporters.
Aurora is on Denver's east side and is Colorado's third-largest city with 327,000 residents. Oates left Ann Arbor to run that department in 2005 after four years as police chief in Ann Arbor. Prior to that, he worked in New York City, coming to Ann Arbor just weeks before the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.
More coverage on the Colorado attacks:
CNN: 14 dead, 50 wounded in shooting at Colorado theater, police chief says (with video)
Denver Post: 14 killed, 50 wounded at Aurora movie theater
Denver Post: Photos: Shooting at Aurora movie theater
Denver Post: Live blog of coverage
9News.com: First eyewitness account of Aurora theater shooting
ABC News: Aurora 'Dark Knight' Shooting Suspect Identified: James Holmes
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