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‘Dark Knight Rises’ Shooting Timeline: A Story Told Via Twitter With First-Hand Accounts

By Dusten Carlson
Published on: 04:50 PST, Jul 20, 2012

The tragic Aurora, Colorado shooting that claimed the life of at least 12 at the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises has cast a dark shadow over the opening of one of the summer’s most anticipated films. Media outlets have been frantically combing social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, searching for details about the shooter and firsthand accounts of the terrible tragedy.

Real-time updates from movie-goers provide a chilling timeline of the events that unfolded at the Century 16 Theater at the Aurora Town Center Mall last night. It starts with excitement regarding the premiere of the summer’s most anticipated blockbuster and ends with the aftermath of one of the U.S.’s worst shootings.

Among the victims was aspiring sportscaster Jessica Ghawi, using the name Jessica Redfield via Twitter. She playfully tweeted a friend as she waited inside the theater for the film to start. She had miraculously survived a Toronto mall shooting a month before, an event that left seven dead.

The gunman was identified this morning as San Diego native James Holmes. The 24-year-old shooter’s own mother confirmed his identity to the press, hours after he was taken into custody (around 12:40 a.m.), reports San Diego 6. Holmes coldly murdered 12 people at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises and wounded more than 50 before finally being taken into custody. The exceptionally well-equipped Holmes used three guns, canisters containing some kind of chemical, and wore a bullet-proof vest. A search of his nearby apartment yielded the discovery of sophisticated incendiary devices. Though a motive is not known at this time, Holmes acted alone, and the FBI have apparently ruled out ties to terrorist movements.

The Aurora Batman shooting is one of the worst in U.S. history, and certainly the worst tragedy in Colorado since the Columbine Massacre in 1999.

We at IQ will say little, except that justice will be done, and Holmes will get what he deserves.

Here is a timeline of the Aurora, Colorado Dark Knight Rises shooting, provided in real-time by on-scene witnesses of the events.

Jessica Ghawi (Redfield) anticipating seeing the film:

Redfield’s final, eerie tweet, a conversation with a friend:

Timeline of updates by Twitter user Zach Eastman:

Miscellanous updates:

Via Jesse Spector – The last person to talk to Jessica Redfield:

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