Colorado Shooting Suspect's Apartment Booby Trapped -Denver Post
07/20/2012| 11:28am US/Eastern
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By Kieran Nicholson, Jessica Fender, Jordan Steffen and Sara Burnett
of THE DENVER POST
AURORA (Denver Post) - Police say that the apartment of the suspect in an early morning theater shooting appears to be booby trapped.
Police Chief Dan Oates said the explosive devices were "pretty sophisticated."
"We could be here for days," he said.
Five buildings have been evacuated.
Jim Yacone, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI, said they were working on "how to disarm the flammable or explosive material."
The 24-year-old suspect in a movie theater shooting, which left 12 people dead, described himself in an apartment rental application early last year as a student who was "quiet and easy going," according to information provided to The Denver Post.
The suspect is in custody but is not expected to appear in court until Monday, a court official said. NBC identified him as James Holmes, 24, of the 1600 block of Paris Street in Aurora.
According to public records searches, Holmes is from the San Diego area. He also has lived in Riverside, Calif.
He started living in his current apartment building around May 2011, according to the records.
His parents could not be reached for comment Friday morning.
Police received several reports of the shooting at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center around 12:39 a.m. Witnesses told police that a man entered the dark, packed theater and opened fire after throwing two smoke canisters.
A total of about 50 people were shot before police arrested the suspect.
Earlier, Oates said the suspect made a statement to officers about possible explosives in his home. That prompted police to begin searching a third-floor apartment in north Aurora using a police robot and camera attached to a long pole.
The search began about 2 a.m.
Wes Bradshaw and his mother Lavonne watched the search of the third-floor apartment from their apartment, they said. The two watched a police robot enter the building right before they heard a small explosion.
The two, along with the rest of the building's tenants, were ordered to evacuate shortly after that, they said.
Residents of the area were huddled on street corners waiting for news. Police at the scene told them it could be hours before they are allowed to return to their homes.
This morning, emergency crews are carefully trying to work their way into the suspect's third-floor apartment. About 6:30 a.m., three police officers on a fire truck bucket were looking through the window of the third-floor apartment and taking pictures.
Using a long pole, responders broke into the window from the basket atop of a hook and ladder truck.
Neighbors in a fourth-floor apartment one building away with a bird's eye view of the suspect's apartment said the curtains are usually closed and they never see any movement inside the apartment.
Even at night, there are no lights or anything in that apartment, said Yesenia Lujan, 24, who has lived in her apartment for seven months.
Using a camera with a zoom lens, Lujan's roommate said he could see into the suspect's kitchen, where a poster of Will Farrell in the movie "Anchorman" was hanging on the kitchen wall.
FBI are on still scene as well as local fire, police and Adams County Sheriff's deputies. Workers approached the window three at a time; they appear to be wearing helmets and flak vests while they peer into the apartment.
http://www.denverpost.com
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