AURORA, Colo., (Reuters) – President Barack Obama visited with friends and family of the Colorado movie theater shooting victims yesterday, joining local officials and residents in mourning those who died.
Twelve died and 58 were wounded early Friday when a lone shooter, armed with three guns and clad in body armor, opened fire at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie.
Police apprehended James Eagan Holmes, 24, moments after the massacre and identified him as the killer. He is to make his first court appearance on Monday.
“I refuse to say his name. In my house we’re just going to call him Suspect A,” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told a community memorial service at the municipal center in Aurora, Colorado, a Denver suburb of 325,000 people.
He captured a spirit of defiance in the blue-collar city that saw one of the most innocent of American pastimes turn into a horror show. Among the thousands of people spread across the lawn at the memorial were two dozen friends of victim Micayla Medek, 23, all clad in bright shades of pink, her favorite colour.
Henry Miranda, 23, was sitting with ‘Cayla’ when she was shot, and declined to talk about the night.
“Today is not about ‘Why?’, Miranda said. “It’s about celebrating the love she brought into all of our lives.”
Obama met with families in the University of Colorado Hospital, and in a televised address afterward never mentioned the suspect’s name.
He focused on the bravery of a young woman, Stephanie Davies, who saved her friend, Allie Young, by putting pressure on a gushing neck wound with one hand while calling for help on her cellphone with the other.
“They assure us that out of this darkness a brighter day is going to come,” Obama said. “Although the perpetrator of this evil act has received a lot of attention over the last couple of days, that attention will fade away. And in the end, after he has felt the full force of our justice system, what will be remembered are the good people who were impacted by this tragedy.”
