gunshots were part of the movie. people in the movie theater next to them thought it was just this special effects of the movie itself. they heard what they thought were firecrackers, and then they say that they saw bullets flying, because as you may remember, i told you that there were witnesses that saw bullets going into the adjoining theater. now, police are on the scene. they have told reporters that the scene is still very active. they have very little information to release at this time. there is a medical center spokeswoman that says that two people arrived from the theater in critical condition. what we don't have yet is information on any deaths. we don't know how many, if any, have been killed. what we do know is 20 to 30 people have been injured. now, as i said, a lot of this is coming from eyewitness accounts of what happened. "the dark knight rises," the new batman movie, people are going to a midnight screening of it

inside the theater. there are reports that a masked gunman, possible gunmans, stood up and just began shooting. also reports that they may have been wearing some kind of gas mask and that there could have been tear gas that was let go inside the theater. kusa has been on the scene since this began, and more information continues to trickle out. and one of the ways that, obviously, these days information is coming through is twitt twitter. little by little, people are accounting what they've seen on, you know, at the theater, people that were there, people that weren't there but hearing things on local radio. there are dozens, as you can see there, police on the scene trying to determine exactly what happened, how many people were involved. we only have word that there has been one suspect taken into custody. what police have not been able

to confirm to us, if that was the only person involved in this shooting, if there are more suspects on the loose. we are obviously trying to gather as much information as we can as to whether or not there is a concern that there could be anyone else involved in this shooting. as local radio and television reports come through, we're of course going to be bringing them to you. but again, if you're just tuning in, about four minutes past 5:00 a.m. here on the east coast, 3:00 a.m. in colorado, where in a denver suburb of aurora there has been a shooting at a movie theater. they were showing "the dark knight rises," this of course being the new batman movie. and witnesses there on the scene reported that a masked gunman -- not sure if that is the only one involved -- stood up and just began shooting inside the theater. now, just imagine you're sitting there watching a movie, the terrifying scene that unfolded, and people coming out of the theater speaking with reporters,

giving their account of just how horrific it was. people in the next theater saying that they heard it thinking that it was just fireworks, sound effects going off from the actual movie next door. and then according to witnesses, there was gunfire that came through the walls. that's how many shots were fired. so, as we continue, bill actually has just come in -- >> six minutes ago from "the denver post." >> yeah, "the denver post," the local newspaper there, bill just bringing this in to me, saying an unknown number of people injured when these shots rang out at movie theater. some time after 1:00 a.m., police received reports of gunshots there at the century 16 movie theater. this is in the aurora town center. this is a suburb very close to denver. there is no confirmation as to whether or not there have been any fatalities or how many people may have been injured. what we are getting are reports

of 20 to 30 people that could have been injured and taken to a local hospital, three local hospitals. again, one person has been arrested, but police do not have any other immediate details because the scene is still very active. you can see there, dozens of police officers there on the scene trying to gather as much information as they can. they have very little information to release. this is what a spokesman told us during a brief news release that they had given people. you can see there at least one witness that was talking to one of our affiliate producers there. there was a witness that spoke to "the denver post" that said he was watching the movie when he heard a series of explosions. he said that people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted "get down!" he said he saw people falling, including one young girl, which is just unbelievably disturbing

account of what happened inside that movie theater in aurora, colorado. now, police have set up a command post. this is near a department store there at this town center. they're interviewing hundreds of possible witnesses, trying to get as much information as they can. and we are trying to get as much information as we can as well. this is continuously breaking minute by minute. we're going to take a quick break and we'll be back with you in just a few moments right here on msnbc. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity...

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welcome back to msnbc. we continue to follow breaking news out of aurora, colorado, a suburb near denver, where we are now confirming from our affiliate kusa that ten have been killed in the shooting there at a movie theater in aurora, colorado. the midnight screening of "the dark knight rises." there have been 38 people injured, this happening at about 12:30 a.m., after the movie had

begun. we are getting reports that witnesses are telling police, and this accounted for right on our affiliate website, that the shooter kicked in the emergency exit door in the theater through some kind of disoriented smoke bomb, and then just started shooting. this witness is saying just the shooter, a shooter. police have confirmed they have one suspect in custody. what we do not know is whether or not that is the only person that was involved in this event. again, ten people confirmed now dead, 38 injured. you can see there now we have our affiliate kusa on the scene as well as dozens of police officers that are investigating exactly what happened. we are told that there are hundreds of people that are giving eyewitness accounts to exactly what happened, and that's how right now we're getting most of our information, our eyewitnesses there on the scene, saying that there were reports at the movie theater right next door that was

watching a completely different movie, actually thought that these were just special effects coming from the movie itself. they say it sounded like fireworks. you often hear that when people are witnesses to shootings, that it sounded like fireworks, and then gunshots and gunfire erupted through the walls into the next theater. you can only imagine, when you hear 10 dead, 38 people injured, just how large and long this may have gone on. what we're going to do is listen in now to our affiliate kusa there in denver, colorado, for more on this. let's listen. >> witness accounts, kyle, this morning, what we're hearing is that there was one shoot yeg involved in this, but you know, again, we get into this dialogue about domestic terrorism, because you have an event where people are coming to midnight screenings, packing the theater to see a highly anticipated movie. there were three screens going

here. and i'm sure there were multiple screens at pretty much every movie theater in the denver area, so this would have taken some thought. it would be a place where you could have multiple targets all in one area. i'm sure that there's going to be a lot of discussion throughout the day and days ahead into what exactly the motive was, what was the reason that this all went the way that it did this morning. but it seems like a methodically planned event, if what witnesses -- again, we're hearing from multiple witnesses that were in there -- that there was someone wearing a lot of gear coming in armed and just taking people out in theater 9. we understand there were three theaters, kyle. i think you spoke on the phone with someone who was in theater 16. i've spoken to a couple folks who were in 8, and they say that the active shooting was taking place in 9, which is right next door, but some folks in theater 8 were hit by projectile bullet fragments or whatever, it could

have been shotgun blasts through the wall of the movie theater. and you know, it was truly a chaotic scene the way this went down, from everyone that we're talking to, because you're in an action movie, surrounded by lots of sound and light. all of a sudden, you hear pinging, it won't trigger something out of the ordinary. you're in a theater experiencing something that's very much like the sounds that are created by an incident like this. and so, you know, some of the folks i've talked with, you know, said it didn't register what was going on for quite a while until they started to see people who were truly wounded in this attack. so, you have a crazy, chaotic scene. you talk about people yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. obviously, it must have been just a horrendous experience for some of these folks. they talk to us about -- one of the men that i talked with, alex, was telling me his sister is just too shaken up to talk and she was clearly distraught. i saw the two of them talking

together. it's going to be a night that a lot of these folks are going to carry some pretty gruesome images with them for the rest of their lives. but you know, people were excited to come here and see a movie, a pg-13 movie. we're hearing there may have been children involved. some of our witnesses that we've talked to have reported seeing children that were wounded in this attack, and you know, it's a batman movie, you know. it's obviously a horrible, horrible scene out here, and we're just learning more. but again, ten people at least have been killed in this attack and there is one person in custody. and we do believe by our witness accounts -- we'll obviously wait to hear from police, whether they think that's all they're going to be looking for today, kyle. >> we have to stress what you just stressed, at least ten are dead, because it's very early on in this. we know at least 39 people, again, at least 39 people were injured and rushed to area hospitals. brandon, if you're still there, jeremy hohola just got here, our

co-worker. he was actually watching the midnight showing at the denver pavilions, and he got the text on his phone that this was going on, so he came in to work. when he was leaving the denver pavilions, there were police officers all around. so, as jase larson was insinuating, it does appear that officers are going to other theaters with overnight showings of "the dark knight" just to make sure everything's okay. >> reporter: you can totally understand, because when you have someone with this kind of m.o., you just don't know. we were wondering on our way out to the scene, you don't know exactly what you've got on your hands until you've got the situation under control. and certainly, police would want to make sure that they're protecting lives anywhere that they could. and you have seen or you have similarly packed houses all across the denver metro area tonight while people were in seeing these midnight showings.

i mean, here out in aurora, we had three screens going at the time this happened. and obviously, any one of us has been in a movie theater before. >> right. >> you can imagine a packed house. >> i know, right. >> and you know, it would not be difficult for a shooter to take out a lot of people in a situation like that. and yeah, police are not going to want to take any chances if that could happen somewhere else again. but again, we're hearing at least ten people dead here at this scene. the witnesses that we're talking about would not be -- that we've talked to, rather, would not be surprised if there's more. and obviously, in situations like this, the police want to get out as much information as they can, but they're still trying to add up exactly what happened here. it's obviously a chaotic scene when you talk about evacuating three movie theaters with shots being fired at the time and also this manhunt. we don't know any details about how they got the person that they do have in custody. we understand from witness accounts that the person was

well protected, you know, pretty heavily geared up for an event like this. and you know, there is still a heavy police presence down here. they're going to be screening this area, looking just to make sure there's not anybody else involved. but again, the witnesses we've talked to believe there was only one person involved. so we'll hope the police bear that out when they talk with more. >> the witnesses, earlier nicole was mentioning there are buses waiting to take them away. the parking lot's probably still cordoned off. they can't go anywhere yet, i would assume. >> reporter: well, the folks we talked to that were not in theater 9 were already allowed to walk out when we came over here, but i imagine they're going to want to talk to -- theater 9 was the active shooting scene. that's where they'll want to talk to everyone in there. >> brandon, we've got to take a break with you now because the police department in aurora is about to hold a press conference. is it getting under way right now? again, they're going to be

talking about what has happened this morning since around 12:45 at the century 16 at the town center in aurora. right now, we're hearing at least ten people were killed by a lone gunman, it appears. and up to 39 people injured. a horrible night at the century 17 that was showing a movie so many people were looking forward to, a pg-13 movie. children were there with their parents and friends and we're hearing some children have been injured. any minute now, the police chief in aurora is expected to hold a press conference and alert the media as to exactly what has transpired over the last 3 1/2 hours. right now the scene at the mall is filled with emergency vehicles, detectives, mostly. i think the ambulances that came to take the injured away have come and gone, but now there are more emergency vehicles out there. they're looking through every movie theater, you know, just looking for any kind of evidence. obviously, 17 theaters are there. three were actually showing

midnight showing of "the dark knight." okay, so, we are prepared i think right now to listen to the audio version of this press conference with the police chief in aurora. okay, it's not starting just yet. getting everyone out the door, waking them up and getting them out in the middle of the night has been kind of a scramble to get all our crews everywhere, but nicole vat got up early and ran right out there. you are across from the theater complex, right, nicole? oh, it's the police chief. >> accuracy, to rely on us, okay? 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 a gas emerged. and then we know that the gunman opened fire. now, i'm saying the gunman, because as of right now, we only know of one gunman, okay? and we have no evidence of any additional shooters. police officers responded. and found the gunman in the back of the theater, outside in the parking lot in a car, in possession of a gas mask, and as we say, a rifle and a handgun. there was at least one additional weapon that was found inside. the shooting went on for some time. as of right now, we have approximately 50 who were hit and we have 14 dead, 10 in the theater and 4 died at area hospitals. the police response consisted of rushing anyone who was hit

immediately into police cars and to hospitals. six area hospitals that we know of, i'll tell you what they are. triage victims, aurora south, university hospital, dennis, denver general. i'm saying approximately 50, but we can't get a firm count right now and there may be some double counts, a victim was taken to one hospital and then transported to another. the suspect, who is in custody, made statements about possible explosives in possession at his residence. at this time, there is a residence in north aurora, an apartment building that we have evacuated and we are dealing with a chance that there are explosives inside there.

we are also concerned about explosives in the parking lot, as the parking lot is completely sealed off. we have all the area bomb squads. we have had wonderful support from our law enforcement friends and just as a precaution are checking all the cars in the parking lot for explosives. that will go on for some time. the theater is secured. i imagine the forensic work and the handling of the deceased inside the theater will continue for some time. on behalf of all of aurora, this is a horrific event. our hearts go out to the families. we have mobilized the witnesses that we could get our hands on to an area high school where debriefings are under way. i'm not sure what else there is to cover. jim cohen will make a brief statement as well. >> good morning. again, it's jim cohen. i'm the agent in charge of the fbi for colorado and wyoming.

again, we are working this jointly with aurora and we have many other local and state agencies participate iing. our sincere condolences to the families and the victims of the family, members who are harmed. we have a significant amount of investigators that have responded and are working shoulder to shoulder with aurora police department at this time. i have no additional information on wounded victims. the chief covered that. and what we're doing is we're really asking for the assistance, obviously, of the public at this time. we need to talk to any potential witnesses and then, again, media, we're asking for discipline as well. so, if you can -- if you come across people who have not been interviewed, we need to know about that. no further statements at this time. i'll turn it over to chief

oates. >> exactly right. we're sifting through information that's coming in to us. obviously, anybody who's seen anything, we would really like their assistance, to notify us. all right, i will take a handful of questions. in terms of a more thorough brief, we're shooting for 11:00 a.m. this morning. i don't know where we'll do that, probably in an aurora facility. so, we'll give you a more through update around 11:00 this morning and we will not do anything between now and then, okay? [ inaudible question ] >> the only thing i will tell you is he made a statement to us about explosives in his residence and we are dealing with that potential threat right now. beyond that, i have nothing more to say about what he said to us. [ inaudible question ] >> we have not been able to confirm that. we have no evidence to support that right now, but we are obviously very concerned about that. they're working that angle right

now. but as of right now, we have no evidence of a second gunman. >> witnesses are saying that the bomb seemed like a bomb, not necessarily explosives -- [ inaudible ] >> it was a release of some sort of smoke, okay? and that's all we know right now. [ inaudible question ] >> we evacuated the apartment building. it's in north aurora. [ inaudible question ] >> we have a suspect in custody, yes. >> you have been listening to a news conference there in aurora, colorado, where the police chief has now confirmed 14 dead, at least 50 injured. unable to give us a firm number as they are still getting an idea of just how horrific the scene is there at the century 17 theater in aurora, colorado, where police tell us a gunman appeared inside the theater while a "dark knight rises" premiere was going on, released

a canister. witnesses say there was a hissing sound, gas then emerged. and according to police, the gunman opened fire, taking the lives of 14 people inside that screening. at least 50 taken to area hospitals. the number is still coming in. a shooter is in custody. police are unsure if that was the only person involved in this incident. it is unclear whether or not there are additional shooters. they found that suspect in the back of the theater near a car, in possession, according to police, of a gun, a handgun, a rifle, and a gas mask. the suspect, according to police, also made statements about explosives in his apartment. so, police have evacuated an apartment building in north aurora. now, aurora is about ten miles from denver, colorado. and there are 36 people injured, we are told now, according to

police. this just a horrific scene there in aurora, colorado, as people who were just going to a movie screening were told by witnesses that there were children there. this was a pg-13 movie. children there with their families and a gunman stormed the theater and just opened fire. 14 people dead. it is unclear at this time if there were any additional shooters. police continue to gather information there on the scene and we do here as well at msnbc. kusa is our affiliate there that you're looking at live coverage of. we were listening to some of the reporters there giving the eyewitness accounts of what was happening. dozens of police officers, dozens of witnesses streaming out, giving their terrifying accounts of what happened inside that theater. 14 dead, 36 injured there in

aurora, colorado. and right here on msnbc, we are going to continue our coverage of this mass shooting, a horrific event. with my colleague, willie geist, who picks up the coverage from here. >> the front of the theater, about 15 minutes or so into the movie, released a canister. then some of the witnesses say they heard a hissing sound and then there was smoke, and then that is when the shooting began. aurora police say that the suspect in custody was found outside of the theater by his car. he was holding a rifle and also a handgun and there were some weapons in his car as well. he insinuated to police officers that there are also explosives at his apartment building, so that building has been evacuated. right now the authorities are not saying where that apartment building is -- >> we want to go to jace larson of our affiliate --

>> -- >> this is willie geist in new york. it is 5:30 in the morning, 3:30 local time in aurora, colorado, where a gunman, we're told, walked into a movie theater during a showing of "the dark knight rises" some time after midnight and began shooting. we want to get details right away from our affiliate kusa in denver and go live there to jace larson. fill us in. >> reporter: what we know now is what we've been reporting. 14 people are dead. we're told ten of them were killed in the movie theater and four additional people were injured but taken to local hospitals and have since passed away. 50 people have been injured and are still alive. we're told that some are in serious condition, some are also in fair condition. the scene is definitely still unfolding here, so we don't have all of the information, but the numbers that we are -- just by the minute, this is really what we're learning, so we're trying

to stay on top of this, but you can tell this is a very serious situation with 14 people daend some 50 injured. >> tell us what kind of crowd may have been assembled at the movie theater, at the century 16. obviously, this was a big night for this movie, midnight showings across the country. packed house, safe to say? >> reporter: absolutely. the people who were in theater number 9 who are talking with us -- and theater number 9 is where we believe that at least the shooting occurred. we're not sure if it started there, ended there or if it went elsewhere, but they're telling us somebody came in, dressed in some type of attire, whether it was a bullet-proof vest or goggles -- we're getting conflicting reports about that -- but this was an event where many people were dressed up. as you probably know from attending other midnight showings, people dress up for these types of events, and if someone were going to this movie, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to dress up in dark-colored clothing. you might not