James Holmes Possible Second Shooter in tragic Batman Denver Shooting Eyewitness Account

As night fell on Aurora, Colo., following a shooting rampage at a movie theater that left 12 people dead, police continue to investigate suspect James Holmes and provide assistance to the victims and their loved ones.

After reducing the number of casualties by one, from 71 to 70 (58 instead of 59 injured), Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates announced at a press conference tonight that the bodies of the 10 people who died at the Century 16 multiplex have been removed from the scene. Two others died at area hospitals earlier today.

Holmes was taken into custody roughly 10 minutes after allegedly opening fire with an assault rifle at around 12:30 a.m. Mountain Time, 25 minutes into a packed 12:05 a.m. screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Oates then shed light on how Holmes came to be in possession of the rifle, shotgun and two handguns, one of which was found in his vehicle after the shooting.

MORE: Will The Dark Knight Rises be too tough to watch now?

The 24-year-old, originally from Riverside, Calif., legally purchased four guns during the past 60 days from local shops, as well as multiple magazines—each one holding up to 100 rounds, for a total of 6,000 rounds of ammunition—off the Internet.

Neighbors say he lived alone and kept to himself, Oates said. Holmes, who had been a graduate student in the neurosciences department at the University of Colorado since June 2011, recently left the school via "voluntary separation."

Meanwhile, according to Oates, authorities are still trying to defuse a complicated incendiary device they discovered in Holmes' apartment, the likes of which, the police chief told reporters, he had never seen.

The bomb squad has suspended efforts for the night but will redouble their efforts tomorrow. Holmes' apartment building and four others have been evacuated in the meantime.

MORE: Sports Blogger Jessica Ghawi Killed During Dark Knight Shooting

Holmes has obtained a lawyer and is due in court Monday at 8:30 a.m. Until then, Oates said, he remains locked up in Arapahoe County Jail and his mug shot is not being released at this time for investigative purposes.

The chief said that his department and other government agencies met with 70 people who have not yet accounted for loved ones who have been missing since the shooting; therefore, they are not releasing a full list of fatalities until after the families have been notified.

It turns out a few injuries were suffered in the chaos following the shooting, though most were gunshot wounds, Oates said. One person in an adjacent theater was also shot.

As of 3:30 p.m., 30 people remained hospitalized, 11 in critical condition.

MORE: President Obama, Hollywood react to shooting

Four theaters in Aurora are showing The Dark Knight Rises and there is an increased security presence at all of them, Oates concluded. A prayer vigil is planned for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Aurora Municipal Center.

As the shows go on, Warner Bros. also announced tonight that it will hold off on releasing data regarding The Dark Knight Rises' weekend box office, numbers that in a normal situation the studio—as well as analysts, the media and rival studios—would have been itching to process.

"Out of respect for the victims and their families, Warner Bros. Pictures will not be reporting box office numbers for The Dark Knight Rises throughout the weekend. Box office numbers will be released on Monday

GALLERY: Dark Knight Rises Shooting: Aftermath of a Tragedy

• Category

  Gaming

[flagic]

Absolutely brilliant that they planned this a week before the Olympics. All eyes are now on the athletes and there is no further questioning on Aurora. The news stations pound into our brains for a week straight that "James Holmes is the killer", then once we are brainwashed into believing it, the Olympics begin. No further questions. AMERICA PLEASE WAKE UP

[BreezyWinter]

Looks like someone spoke to the media before the cops could get ahold of him to tell him what to say :D

[DaHoodAssassin32]

wake up people, dont look into believing the crap CNN and NBC. They dont know what they saw in the theater so how do they know there was only one shooter. Becuase this is not the only one who said something similar. Another interviewew said that there was smoke gas coming from another side of the room.

[jjonc85]

Smoke grenades and a shooting going on, witnesses that do not have the training to deal with the stress of the situation. Odds are that their heart rates were 175 bpm plus. Cognitive processing deteriorates, develop tunnel vision, irrational fight or flee, freezing, and gross motor skills deteriorate. This is a natural reaction to a stressful situation, and very few people can keep their heart rate down without training to deal with these scenarios.

[jjonc85]

You can find smoke grenades online. They cost as little as $33.00

[puppetstr1ngs]

Where do u even buy gas/smoke canisters??? How did the shooter get in the theater??? If I try walking in a movie theater with a soda all hell breaks loose but this guy managed to carry all that stuff in.

[MockEmpire]

what make and model were the gas grenades, standard aurora police issue?

[MrNigbigrig]

A second trained shooter could easily make victims while "Holmes" caused a scene to give the public reason to single out one man.

[dick mc]

DOUBLE THINK !!!!!!!!!!! that is all you do

[bowarrful]

I'm starting to get JFK deja vu.