we do not want to speculate on victim's identities of course, the last thing we want is for someone's namly to hear that kind of speculation. we do know one who's life was cut short. jessica ghawi. she narrowly he skapd a shooting in toronto. she was only 24 years old. her brother joins me tonight to talk about his sister. other focus is on the victims, on the survivors and on the first responders who rushed in. there were military personnel as well in that theater, in theater number nine. one sailor is unaccounted for, along with ten others. tonight we talk about the line between good and bad fortune. so many people who spent today at a police staging area at a

high school near here, not knowing if their son, father, mother, daughter, was alive or dead. waiting for word for them to be removed from theater number nine. we're going to be telling you about them, talking to people who were inside when the gunman burst in. >> that's just a few frenzyed >> that's just a few frenzyed moments that when people thought it was a promotional stunt, they were watching mass murder. as for the suspect shs we're going to tell you about the search for clues as to what may have motivated him but as this our much remains unknown. both romney and obama have suspended campaigning for the day.

the president spoke about it earlier. >> we will take every step possible to ensure the safety of all of our people. we're going to stand by our neighbors in colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time. and i had a chance to speak with the mayor of aurora as well as the governor of colorado, to express not just on behalf of michele and myself, but the entire american family, how heartbroken we are. >> a short time later mitt romney offered his condolences. >> each one of us will hold our kids a little closer, linger a bit longer with a colleague or a neighbor, reach out to a family member or friend. we'll all spend a little less time thinking about the worries of our day and more time wondering about how to help those who are in need of compassion most. >> we'll tell you all we know about the killer but focus as little as possible on him.

we do want to show you minute by minute just what the victims were up against. take a look. >> it's about 12:30 a.m. into the sold out premier of the movie. he throws tear gas into the room through the exit door which he had propped open earlier after purchasing a ticket to the movie and sneaking out of the theater. it ignites causing confusion. >> this popping started happening, i thought it was fire works like someone playing a prank. and smoke started rising. >> reporter: witnesses say the gunman enters the theater. >> he came down with his gun in my face. he was about three feet away from me at that point. i was terrified. >> reporter: the terror spreads. eyewitnesss describe the gunman as firing calmly into the crowd.

>> down on the ground, hiding below the chairs. and the guy is just standing right by the exit, firing away. he's not aiming at a specific person, just aiming everywhere trying to hit as many people as he can. i was down on the ground, covering myself going up to trying to see the guy, the tear gas was getting me, my eyes were watery, i was crying, it was hard to breathe so i kept going down, telling my sister to go forward, pshing her forward. where there were girls, girls, running on top of me, the guy was firing, the shooting lasted probably like a minute or two minutes. >> reporter: the gun man doesn't discriminate, children are also shot. this mother is wounded in the leg as she tries to escape the gun fire. >> i just grabbed my daughter

and just got out as fast as i could. and just run out. i didn't turn around, i didn't look behind me. i just got out and there was a moment where my daughter tripped and i pulled her up and i was dragging her and i was thinking we've got to get out the door. even if i just fall dead, just get my kids out of here. it was just so horrible. >> reporter: at 12:39 a.m. the first calls come into 911. >> somebody is shooting in the auditorium. >> reporter: police arrive within 90 seconds to soon learn that 70 people have been wounded. this video shows panicked victims streaming out of the theater. inside, ten people are dead. >> we need rescue inside the auditorium, multiple victims. >> i got seven down!

>> i've got a child victim i need rescue now. >> two more victims later die at the hospital, bringing the death toll so far to 12th. >> there was one on kraulg, bullet holes in some people's backs, one guy who was stripped down to his boxers. >>. >> reporter: while police and emergency workers, the suspect is spotted standing by a white car. >> i need a marked car behind the theater stable side. the suspect in a gas mask. >> everyone hold the air one second. cars where that white car in the rare light. >> yes, we've got rifles, gas mask, he's detained right now. >> hold that position, old your suspect. >> reporter: within seven minutes of the first 911 call, the gunman surrounders to police.

he's identified as james holmes. holmes, who lives just for miles from the theater, tells police he's left a bomb in his third floor apartment. >> we are not sure what we are dealing with the home. they appear to be insend airy devices. they're linked with all kinds of wires, as a layman it's not something i've seen before. >> reporter: police won't speculate on a motive for holmes who is now in custody awaiting his first court appearance on monday. >> knowning us now is paul oweder mott who was in the theater and isiah. >> i was sitting right near the exit. >> so when he came in, you saw him almost immediately. >> i think i was the first person to see him and i told my girlfriend to get down right when he was throwing the

canister. >> did you know what he was throwing. >> i knew it wasn't right. i figured if he was swat, he would yell something. >> so the fact that he was alone raised your suspicion. >> yeah. he didn't do anything, just stood there, threw the can and shot in the air. >> where were you? >> i was on the front left and he was on the front right. i saw him stroll up and toss the canister and he went over the crowd behind me and i knew it was some sort of irritant because my eyes extorted about burning. >> so you instantly started to feel it. >> we got out pretty quick, but right after he threw it, he started shooting into the crowd. >> were you able to see him, his eyes or his face at all? because the police are saying his hair had been died red because he called himself the joker. >> i couldn't see. i could see the plex plexiglas

of his face, but it was really dark and i saw him pull out, i wasn't sure what kind of gun it was until it went off, and it was really loud and i assume it was a shotgun. >> they say he was armed with several weapons, a shotgun among them. did you see people getting hit. >> well, i looked up, i could see because i covered my girlfriend, i got her on the ground and so i was on top of her and i could see the people behind us scrambling. >> so you could see people in the back of the theater. >> i could see the whole theater. people were crawling and franticly trying to get over and people weren't moving. i'm pretty sure we saw everybody. >> there was a time where you were actually in the aisle and he was in the aisle, right? >> yeah. i was trying to count the bullets, it didn't help at all. you about he started shooting long enough for me to look up. and he looked like he was

reloading so i tried to get my girlfriend to come with me with the two girls in front of us. so she jumped the seat with me and i looked back and i guess she couldn't make it over and i saw him look at me. >> he actually looked at you while you were reloading. >> well, i looked at him and i'm pretty sure he was looking in my direction and i ran to the door and i couldn't find him at first and found it and bolted back? >> what did you see when he tossed the canister. >> i knew something was wrong and i started to try to get up and then he took out the shotgun and started firing into the upper deck. and. >> were people screaming? >> yeah that's when the screaming started. when he threw the canister it was dead quiet and when he started firing there was screaming everywhere and i heard somebody screaming from the air why where he had shot and somebody was freaking out about somebody getting shot right next

to them. that's when we ducked down to the floor and started crawling out. we went to the -- we tried to crawl all the way to the exit to where there was like a mini wall. i was ducking down when you were running past him, i think it was about the time. ba i saw you. i remember seeing somebody running past him. >> was the movie playing? >> it was a really slow scene. i heard in some other reports in theater eight there was gun fire. but in theater nine it was a dead scene in the bat cave. >> when you got out, you think you may have been one of the first people to interact with the police. >> no one was in the lobby so i bolted to the side of the theater because i didn't know which theater, and i ran into the cops and they told me to get down and i yelled at them theater nine. >> so they were already coming toward the scene.

>> yeah but they couldn't get in, because these doors you can only open them in the inside. >> so i ran and opened them. >> so you let the police in and you said theater nine. >> he didn't understand and i yelled at them theater nine and they took off that way. >> did you say that there was one gunman or did you tell him what the guy looked like. >> i just kept shotting theater nine. >> and you got out. >> we crawled to the wall and my girlfriend was trying to, like, was holding her phone trying to call 911 and she dropped it there and another guy named evan, he picked it up because he thought it was his wife's phone, he was leaving that same area, he came around right after us. he was right around us and he picked up the phone and we were all running out. and he said the people right behind him got shot. >> how do you deal with something like this? how are you guys holding up?

>> a lot of family. everybody on facebook and everyone who is writing us and texting us nonstop. >> have you slept? >> for like three hours. >> and it's your girlfriend's birthday. >> it is. it's her 20th birthday. she got to meet you though, so that was the highlight. >> so i'm glad you guys are okay and the friends you were with are all right as well. thank you for being with us. try and get some sleep. isiah bow and paul otermat. follow us now on twitter. we have knew information about how the suspect wired up his apartment to explode and take even more lives of first responders and neighbors. that's next.

>> there was a man who was asking the police to help him and he was absolutely covered in blood and his whole arm and he was asking for help and i have to at least talk to him i'm not trained in paramedics at all but i should talk to him. he had been hit in the head. i thought he was just grazed because there was only a small skrash but when i looked again i realized it was very very swollen. >> we talked to her about two hours ago. and we're hearing from people inside that theater when they left tried to help their loved ones or even complete strangers in the case of emma.

we're really trying to focus on the victims and survivors of the killing rampage. but we want to focus briefly on the suspect in custody tonight. drew griffin veths. >> reporter: he had been living not far from this movie theater from this past year because it was also close to the university of colorado mel school where holmes was a graduate student in neurosciences. according to the school he was in the process of withdrawing last month. the school won't tell us much about his grades or the classes. we do know he did give a student lecture this past march on something called micro rna bio markers. it's about an emerging area of neuroscience, the study of nerves that relate to cancer research, and the school says holmes worked in a paid position there as well, but no details. before that, it was a middle upper class upbringing in california.

high school in san diego and under graduate degree from the university of california in riverside in 2010. school administrators there say he had an outstanding academic record. >> he was an honor student. so academically, he was at the top of the top. he really distinguished himself during his four years with us, graduating with highest honors. >> reporter: so how is this honors student, this budding neuroscientist, suddenly becoming completely a different person? dressed, and according to police, armed to kill. >> the suspect was dressed all in black. he was wearing a balistic helmet, a tactical vest, ballistic leggings and black tactical gloves. >> was he delusional, was there mental illness involved? i want to share with you what new york city police commissioner ray keler learned

of the suspect. >> we have some information rgs i believe most of it is public. it clearly looks like a deranged individual. he had his hair painted red. he said he was the joker. >> reporter: but that is all we know about this guy. all the usual avenues to find out if he was on you tube, any on line postings, any arrest records, girlfriends who didn't like him, none of that. >> no social media profile. >> as far as we can tell, no. >> one of the big questions is how much was this planned out? what do we know about how long ago he got the weapons. >> we can tell you how long he's been thinking about this, but it looks like it's been planned and plotted over the last couple of months. june and july he buys four different guns. we're going to show you what

they look like. a semiautomatic ar-15, a shotgun, a glock handgun. these were all purchased locally. he checked out with the federal background checks, all legally purchased. and we also got a receipt from a tactical gear company in missouri. this is an online company, where just july 2nd, he bought online, $306.79 worth of tactical gear. this is a vest, a pistol magazine, a magazine pouch to carry ammunition, and then a knife. all of it, anderson, in black. he ordered it specifically in black. second-day air, come to his apartment. he ordered it on july 2nd. >> is it known if he wore this stuff inside or did he have the stuff outside. the police say he came into the theater with everybody and he

left. >> we can only surmise. the witnesses say they saw somebody propping a door open, they didn't mention anything about black. some of them thought it was two different people at one point. >> i appreciate the reporting all day. also tonight breaking news about the way in which the suspect allegedly tried to reate even more victims. he apparently booby trapped his apartment. >> as we've been learning all day, in fact james holmes did booby trap his aapartment. we're just getting this information tonight from reuters. when he went to the movie theater that night, law enforcement is saying he set a timer to go off to turn on some really loud music. that would have triggered somebody to possibly file a noise complaint and if they had opened that door, if they had

done anything, a window possibly, that might have triggered some of these explosives that he has ready in that apartment, which could have brought down the whole building or possibly several buildings. law enforcement aware of that. they've been working here all day trying to figure out what to do with those explosives inside. it's the third flar apartment back there. that is james holmes' apartment. the windows are broken out. they had to send in robots to see what was going on. and they found a web of trip wires and chemical devices and gasoline just ready to explode. the robots took pictures, they're being analyzed, they could go in or send the robots in first thing in the morning to try and detonate those explosives already inside. they've already evacuated five buildings in this area. some of the residents have been allowed to get medicine and

personal belongs. still tonight, after all these hours, a very tense situation when you do have an apartment full of live explosives. anderson? >> it's very lucky that no first responders actually entered that apartment. randi, i appreciate the reporting. we do know the name of one person who was killed, a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her, she was just 24 years old. i'm going to speak with her brother and learn about who she was and what she hoped for in life. >> there is at least one person that's been shot but they're saying there's hundreds of people running around.

i want to tell you about one of the people that we know was killed inside of that theater. really the only victim's name we do know. jessica ghawi. she was just 24 years old, an aspiring sports caster. i talked to her brother who felt it was important to talk about his sister so people focus not on the killer, as so many people seem to be focusing, but on the victims. we'll be right back with that. on gasoline. i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪

little girls were shot, little boys were shot. elderly people were shot. teenagers were shot. people that were still in high school, they were shot. he did not care. death did not care at all, about age, sex or anything. it was all a massacre. >> on a terrible day like this, after a terrible incident like this, so much attention goes to the suspected gunman. history remembers the names of the killers and there's something about that that just seems wrong. i think history should remember the victims and the survivors. so tonight we've wanted to try to focus on the victims as much as possible. most of the victim's names have not yet been released. we want to tell you about the young woman who we do know. her life was cut short by the

massacre at the theater. she's the only victim whose name has so far been released by her family. her name is jessica ghawi. she was just 24 years old, a sister, a daughter, a friend to many. by all accounts a remarkable young woman with a promising career ahead of her. we're going to talk to her brother. first poppy harlow has a look at her life. >> reporter: a fiery redhead passionate above all else. just 24 years old. jessica ghawi beginning life on her own. an aspiring sports caster and lived in denver and went by jessica red field on the air. >> what do you want to tell the world about your sister. >> i want her story told told. i want her to be remembered, not the gunman.

>> i'll never have her to hug again or get a text message again or get a funny facebook picture. that's the hard part right now. just knowing those are things that i'm never going to get to experience again. i was blessed. only for 25 years, but i was blessed. >> reporter: she moved from her texas home to denver, after begging her parents to let her pursue her dream job. she had been looking forward to this big night. her high school friend was visiting her to share a special screaming of this movie together. brent and jessica were very close, he said. brent was shot in the back side and also suffered shap nel wound. he's undergone surnlry but still has major injuries though is not in critical condition. active on twitter, jessica's last tweet came around midnight

saying movie doesn't start for 20 minutes. she had narrowly he skapd tragedy just a month ago, a sad irony, her brother and friends tell us she was at the eden center toronto mall visiting her boyfriend jay when a shooting broke out in the mall food court just three minutes after she left it. she recounted the horror on her blog. >> i was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on earth will end, when are where we will breathe our last breath. we have to live our life as a blessing. i know i truly zmand how blessed i am for each second i'm given. >> earlier this evening i spoke with jessica's brother, jordan. >> i'm so sorry to your loss and for your family's loss. how are you holding up?

>> i don't have a choice. i'm trying to be a pillar of strength for family and friends and disseminate information where i get it. >> you flew from san antonio. >> when would you estimate it happened. >> 10 minutes after the first shot from a friend. >> i want people to know about the 11 others that died and the 70 others that have been shot. but specifically my sister is my passion and what she stood for and had her dreams cut short and how we're going to be able to try to sustain those dreams and push them forward. she was an aas set to her. >> she dreamed of being a sports caster and she was doing what she was doing well. >> yeah. by all accounts. she was pushing forward and making the right contacts and getting her name out there. >> sand she was big on twitter. she was tweeting just before the

shooting. >> i believe 20 minutes before the tweet she sent out a tweet about how excited she was about the premier. >> >> immediately after the phone call i saw my mother and saw my father before i left for colorado. i've been in communication with them and more distant relatives throughout the day. >> why do you want to talk? some people kind of wonder, in a time like this, why people come forward. i think it's because people want their loved one's life known. >> that's a good question and a lot of people are questioning my use of social media. i've always been about transparency. i want the word out about my sister, her life and what happened as soon as possible. but i don't want the media to be saturated with the shooters's name. i can tell you virginia tech the shooter was cho, i can tell you hear in denver in colorado not

long ago who they were. i don't want that to be happen again here. >> i think you raise an important point. i really don't want to even use this guy's name very much. i just don't think it should be known amonth from now, a week from now or even tomorrow. i think it should be forgeten. >> of course we're all going to speculate on a motive but does it matter? i'm going to focus on the victims and keep those memories alive rather than a coward with a rifle rather than what the cause is. i don't care. i don't want to hear about his name. this is the about the victims. >> what is the next step. >> bring her home. we want to bring her home and celebrate her life with family, friends and anybody that she's touched. >> i appreciate you talking and i'm so sorry for your loss. >> i appreciate you taking the time to get the victims' stories out there. >> and there are so many families right now who are

suffering tonight. i just want to show you kind of a makeshift memorial. we've seen these pop up in tragedies like this. a small group of people brought candles, just the last hour or so. no doubt all throughout the evening tonight, more feem will come. this is about as close as most people can get to the theater. it's about a block and a half or two blocks away from the theater. there are people who still don't know what happened to loved once who were in the theater last night. we do know that thoerts starting this hour gn notifying the families. i spoke with marcus weaver. a young man injured in the attack. he's waiting to hear about a friend of his who was in the theater. he described to me what he saw.

>> when he first came out, it was after the smoke bomb went across the theater and it hit the other side and it was smokey and we all thought it was maybe a prank, something that went along with the movie. and the next two shots hit the front row and then the barrage of shots started clanking out. my friend and the people next to me ducked for cover and we were behind, it would seem like it was only six inches of seat that were the next step down, we just hold on for deer life, but it was hitting chairs, hit prognose people. >> when did you realize you were hit. >> i didn't realize until i got outside. >> so you didn't feel the bullet enter you? >> no. i think that i such an adrenaline rush and everybody is coming to me are you injured. >> this is the shirt. i got sprayed with some bullets right there.

>> and how is your arm now? >> well, it's got like two holes right there where they entered. >> it didn't entered anywhere else. and then the shrapnel on my shoulder. my friend is still missing, her name is rebecca wingo. they've been searching the hospital. we got off the ground there was a moment where he stopped shooting. i picked her up and she had blood all over her face. and she was unconscious. i tried to pick her up but there were people trampling over the seating coming down, people in my aisle who were like laying down, injured, dead, crying. it was awful. so i ended up tripping and had to set her down. >> that's marcus weaver looking for his friend. we've been able to find a photo of her, if anybody has any

information, there are numbers you can call. the number is 303-739-1862. you've 'got information about the shooting, authorities would like you to call 720-913- 867. tonight aurora colorado is reeling from one of the worst shootings in history. shat out of a horror film. now when former congress woman gabby giffords heard the news, you can imagine what -- earlier i talked to her husband, former astronaut mark kelly. [ male announcer ] break the grip of back or arthritis pain

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this is still a city in shock, obviously so many in the country are still in shoblg. people in tucson, arizona. you can imagine what that is like.

i talked to her husband tonight. it was 1 1/2 years ago when your wife was shot in tucson. what first entered your mind? >> this morning, immediately when i got up, i saw a text message from gabby's former chief of staff who is now the assistant secretary of homeland security for public affairs, pia, and she said co shooting. my national reaction was i thought it meant "commanding officer." i looked through my e-mail and then i saw the cnn breaking news e-mail that outlined what happened. gabby and i had just gotten up. we were just horrified over how could this happen again i mean, just 18 months later. >> and that was her reaction as well obviously?

>> yeah, it was, just shocked, sad. this is a really, really difficult time for those folks. it's going to take a long time to recover. >> as a family member of someone who was shot, how do you take the next step? i mean, how do you get up the next day? how do you get through something like this? >> well, think everybody handles it differently. and i think there are those stages of grief. you know, for me, the first thing was disbelief and shot. and then i very quickly got to anger. you know, even a year and a half later, this is a process that takes a long time. for me, a year and a half later, i think about this every single day. i think about what gabby goes through. what the other families of the victims.

christina taylor green's family is an example. the story you told about jessica that you and her brother talked about. i mean, just, you know, scene much like christina taylor green, even though she was much younger. these are tragic stories. this is going to take a long time for this community to get over this. >> what's your advice? there are family members who have lost loved ones who are watching right now. and there are obviously the larger family in aurora, colorado, who's suffering through. what's your advice to somebody watching tonight? >> well, i think for the folks that were directly affected by this, the victims, the ones that were not killed, and the family members, i mean, it really helped to come together as a community. that happened in tucson. i think these towns like tucson tend to rise to the occasion.

and that support really helps those people that are experiencing this. so i think it helps. as an example, gabby's staff, i mean, we immediately got, you know, some professional help for them. in january, january 8th of 2011. that happened on a saturday. by sunday or monday, there was, you know, professional help for those folks. so that is really important to do that as soon as possible. >> well, mark kelly, we wish you the best. i appreciate you talking on this very difficult day and our best to your wife and her recovery as well. she's an inspiration. both of you are inspirations for so many. a help to so many in this time. mark, we appreciate it. >> i talked to him earlier tonight. when we come back, we're going to show you the sights and sounds. we'll be right back.

>> welcome back. earlier we showed you a makeshift memorial that's been put up about a block from where i'm standing. on sunday there's going to be a prayer vigil in aurora. today has been heartbreaking as people have struggled to come to terms with what happened in the movie theater. a senseless attack that left at least 12 people dead, 50 people injured. along with grief comes questions, some of which may never be answered. the simplest question is why and we don't have the answer to that right now. right now we want to let

everyone who has been affected by this tragedy know our thoughts and or hearts are with them as we take a look at some of what we and others saw on this day, a day that none of us will forget. >> shooting at theater. there's been somebody shooting. >> approximately 12:30 this morning, a gunman appeared at the front of one of the theaters in the century 16 theater behind me here. witnesses tell us that he released some sort of canister, they heard a hissing sound and that gas emerged. >> some gas masks we can't get in it. >> she said a man about six feet tall, taller than her, kicked through the door. and he was in, she said a riot helmet. he had a bulletproof vest on.

she said that he was completely covered in all black with goggles. when she turned around all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing. >> he was not saying anything at all. he was just quiet. he was just literally shooting everyone like it was hunting season or something. >> i've got seven down! >> all i could think about is i probably know somebody in there that's hurt right now. >> she got shot, just got shot, the shots. >> i slipped on some blood quell on a lady and i saw her heels and everything and i shook her

and i was we got to get out of here there was no response. so i presume she was dead. >> it's really epic and you really can't believe it and feel like i'm in a dream right now. we always wish that it's not how much we do now that we had done more. >> as we take away from this tragedy, the reminder that life is very fragile. our time here is limited and it is precious. and what matters at the end of the day is not the small things. it's not the trivial things, which so often consume us and our daily lives. ultimately it's how we choose to treat one another and how we love one another. >> and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and with their families tonight and all those survivors and the first responders. that does it for this edition of "360."

tonight, breaking news. a colorado movie theater massacre. officially now the largest mass shooting in u.s. history. a gunman opens fire at a midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." >> he was not saying anything at all. he was just quiet. he was literally shooting everyone. like it was, like, hunting son or something. >> at least 12 dead, 59 more injured, including a 4-month-old baby. is this a face of evil? why would anyone commit this atrocity? plus, chilling stories from survivors. >> this one guy, he was crawling on all fours and it seemed as if he had been shot in his back and he was just gasping for air, it was terrible.

>> the battle wages again over america's gun laws. the shooter bought all four of his weapons legally in the last four months. this is "piers morgan tonight." an act of evil that in seconds left 12 people dead. all the victims wanted was to see the new batman film. a packed theater, nowhere to run or escape from this maniac. police say the killer is james holmes, a 24-year-old ph.d. student. calmly vigil for the victims is being held right now. we're going to have all the latest developments on this tragedy tonight. first, we listen to what new york mayor bloomberg said today about the massacre.