Press Conference on Movie Theater Shooting Suspect's Apartment; Police Chief Oates: "We Sure As Hell Are Angry"
Aurora, Colorado Mayor Steve Hogan spoke to the public today at a press conference. He said, “Our city endured an unbelievable tragedy yesterday. We’re still reeling.”
He said that with the thoughts and prayers from people around the world who have reached out, the community can now start the process of healing. The mayor met with some of the families of the injured victims and “tried to do what little that I could do on behalf of the city to let them know that we care, that we will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to try to help them.”
Regarding the suspect’s apartment, the threat has not been eliminated, but it has been significantly reduced. Special Agent Jim Yacone of the FBI described the challenging process that bomb technicians played out to disarm the trip wires, but they still have to go into the apartment and handle unknown substances with potentially explosive or incendiary outcomes.
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Officials hope that families who were evacuated will be allowed back into their homes by later today, but those who live in the same building as the suspect will not be allowed back until at least tomorrow. Police Chief Dan Oates said that the suspect, James Holmes, had a high volume of deliveries sent to his work and home address. They believe that this explains how he began accumulating materials he has in his apartment and ammunition. The police chief said they believe they’re seeing some evidence that this was calculated and deliberate, which will be determined in court.
In regards to the movie theater, any personal items left there will begin to be returned to people by Monday, given that they aren’t needed for forensic evidence. Police hope to hand the theater back over to the owners by Wednesday.
Chief Oates emphasized, “Make no mistake okay, this apartment was designed, I say, based on everything I’ve seen, to kill whoever entered it. And who was most likely to enter that location after he planned and executed this horrific crime – it was going to be a police officer. Okay, so make no mistake about it what was going on there and if you think we’re angry, we sure as hell are angry about what has happened to our city, about what has happened to these wonderful people who live here and also what he threatened to do to one of our police officers.”
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Update, 6:40p ET: All explosives have been removed from the apartment of Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes and have been taken to a dump to be destroyed.
Part I -- Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper:
Part II -- Police Chief Dan Oates and FBI Special Agent Jim Yacone:
