President Barack Obama arrived Sunday in Colorado where he began meeting with local
officials and families of those gunned down inside a crowded movie theater last
week.
Air Force One
landed at Buckley Air Force
Base in Aurora, Colorado, where he is expected to stay for a
two-and-a-half-hour visit.
He headed straight to the University of Colorado
Hospital, one of several area medical centers that received shooting victims.
Obama will not attend a community prayer
vigil, which is scheduled in Aurora
Sunday night. He will be briefed on the investigation, officials said, and is expected to address the
public before he leaves Colorado.
The man accused of opening fire inside the
theater left a trail of evidence that police say suggests the rampage was part
of a calculated plan that included killing anyone who tried to learn more about
him in the aftermath of the attack.
Remembering
the victims
Authorities have said little about what
they believe was the motive of suspect James
E. Holmes, though investigators say there is
evidence planning was under way for up to two months beforehand.
Twelve people were killed and 58 were
wounded in the Friday morning attack that has shocked the nation and reignited
a conversation about gun laws in America.
Holmes received a high volume of
deliveries over the past four months to both his home and work addresses, which
police believe begins to explain how he got his hands on some of the materials
used in the attack and those found at his apartment, said Aurora Police Chief
Daniel Oates.
"What we're seeing here is evidence
of, I think, some calculation and deliberation," Oates said.
"We have the evidence of a
deliberative process to commit this assault, and we have the evidence of a
deliberative process in his mind to attack whoever opened the door of his
apartment."
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told CNN's
"State of the Union" Sunday he spent
a day going from hospital to hospital, talking with survivors.
He concluded that Holmes was a person who
wanted to terrorize and instill fear in people's lives, but said he can't
conceive of a motive.
"This is a deeply troubled, twisted,
delusional person," he said.
One survivor, Josh Nowlan, sustained
gunshot wounds, but said he is happy just to be alive. He wouldn't be, he said,
if the suspect's gun had not jammed.
"I know I wouldn't be here. If that
gun did not jam, I am full certain that I probably would not be here," he
said from his hospital bed Saturday.
Police gained access Saturday to Holmes'
apartment after intentionally detonating two rigged explosives.
Technicians, with the help of a robot,
worked to handle traps, wires and possible explosive and incendiary devices,
Jim Yacone, a special agent with the FBI, told reporters Saturday.
The operation proceeded with an eye toward
preserving evidence, all of which will be sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia,
Yacone said.
Hundreds of residents were evacuated from
five buildings, including the modest, three-story brick building where Holmes
told police he had rigged his top-floor, one-bedroom apartment with explosives.
All occupants except those who live in the suspect's building were allowed to
return home Saturday night.
Robots
reveal 'unique' setup in suspect's apartment
While the threat to the apartment building
Holmes lived was eliminated Saturday, Oates said the residents were being kept
out at least until Sunday as investigators work "to preserve
evidence."
As of Sunday, at least 17 people remained
hospitalized -- eight in critical condition -- in five area hospitals.
Aurora's residents, meanwhile, were grappling with the aftermath of the
carnage.
Oates said the Century 16 multiplex would
remain shuttered at least until Wednesday to give police time to complete the
investigation inside and allow the suspect's defense team access by Tuesday.
Holmes, who is being held in the Arapahoe
County Jail, is scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning. The court file
was sealed, according to a court order.
Security
stepped up nationwide in wake of Colorado movie theater shooting
Witnesses described the gunman as wearing
a gas mask that concealed much of his face and head. He opened fire during a
screening of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Holmes' hair was dyed red, and he told
police when he was arrested in the rear parking lot of the theater minutes
after the rampage that he was "the Joker," according to a federal law
enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation. The source was not
authorized to release details to the media.
The Joker has long been a fixture in
Batman comics and was famously portrayed by Heath Ledger in 2008's "The
Dark Knight," the predecessor to "The Dark Knight Rises."
Oates has declined to release details
about Holmes' appearance other than to describe what he was wearing: a
ballistic helmet and protective gear for his legs, throat and groin, black
gloves and a gas mask.
He also said he would not release the
booking photo "for investigative reasons."
