A photo of the gunman who went on a shooting massacre a the Dark Knight Rises screening in Aurora, Colorada, has emerged.
James Holmes, the 24-year-old man who shot dead 12 innocent people at the Century 16 movie theater, was apparently a medical school dropout and was studying for a neuroscience PhD at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. It has been revealed that he only just dropped out last month and had been studying right up until June.

He is being described as a loner, a recluse, who kept to himself. One student commented that no one knew him.  It has been reported that he left music on in his apartment, blaring, just moments before carrying out the massacre.

"The University of Colorado Denver Aschutz Medical Campus can confirm that Mr. James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado Denver's graduate program in neurosciences," the university statement said. "Mr. Holmes enrolled at the university in June 2011."

The FBI has revealed Holmes is a white male who is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 24 years old. His birth date is Dec. 13, 1987.

No significant criminal record and no terrorist affiliations have been connected to Holmes. Investigators believe he acted as a lone gunman, with no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved.

A motive for the shooting has not emerged yet and nothing in his background suggests why he would carry out such an evil act.

James Holmes is reportedly a local resident of the community who only lived a few miles away from the theater. Witnesses say he wore a bulletproof vest and mask as he opened fire with two pistols and a shotgun at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the midnight showing of the latest Batman movie premiere.

A woman from San Diego who is believed to be the gunman's mom, spoke to ABC News. She was not aware of the shooting when she woke up and authorities have not contacted her yet. "You have the right person," she reportedly said. "I need to call the police... I need to fly out to Colorado."

Sadly many of the innocent victims were children. The youngest victim to die was reportedly just 12 years old. A three-month-old baby and a six year old was also shot.

Holmes was arrested in the parking lot of the massacre site and police searched his car immediately. Holmes seems to have intricately planned the massacre, and booby-trapped his apartment.  Police reportedly found "buckets of extra ammunition" and some sort of chemical within the home. Bomb technicians are currently determining how to disarm the explosive material. 
While in police custody, Holmes reportedly spoke of some sort of "explosive" within his home.

James Holmes Planted Explosives For Police At His Apartment

Witnesses have described that the real life shooting began during a noisy shoot out scene in the new "Dark Knight Rises" movie. Many in the theater actually believed the real gunshots were just part of the film and did not realize their lives were in danger until it was too late.
 

The gunfire lasted for up to 20 minutes, according to some eyewitnesses.
 
"I don't know whose little girl that was, but my heart goes out to them. ... A cop came walking through the front door ... holding a little girl in his arms and she wasn't moving, she wasn't moving," one young man told KUSA.
 

Other witnesses described some victims as being hit by gunfire in the stomach, others in the cheek. One victim is believed to be as young as nine years old, according to one eye witness, Salina Jordan.
 

A 911 dispatcher, Cathy Canzanora, has told NBC News that at about 12:39 a.m. on Friday local time (2.39 a.m. ET) the emergency call center was suddenly flooded with calls from just about "everybody who had cellphones in the theater." The call center immediately dispatched police, ambulances and fire crews to the location.
 

"The Dark Knight Rises" is the third and final movie in the Christopher Nolan trilogy in the Batman franchise. The movie was just released for general public viewing from midnight on Friday, and thousands attended special midnight screenings across the country.

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