we're beak now with more of "today" on a friday morning, the 20th of july, 2012. you're looking at aurora, colorado. a movie theater complex animal complex there just outside denver about ten or 12 miles from the downtown denver area where a gunman opened fire inside a movie theater overnight killing at least 12 people, injuring some 50 others. as you can imagine, it was a terrifying and chaotic scene for the movie goers who were watching a midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." witnesses say a suspect released a gas canister, some kind of tear gas canister, before he began shooting. the 24-year-old suspect is now in custody. going to get the latest from

jace larson, our affiliate kusa reporter out there. jace, good morning to you. jace, can you hear me? i'm sorry. instead let's go to pete williams, who is our justice correspondent on the ground in washington learning a lot more about the investigation and the suspect. pete, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, the suspect is identified as a 24-year-old man from the aurora area named james holmes. he was born december 13th of 1987, and authorities don't know much about him. they say he had no military history and the odd thing is that after the shooting he didn't try to escape. he didn't turn the gun on h himself as sometimes happens. he was just standing near that white car, the picture of which you saw a moment ago. that is the car he apparently drove to the theater and was standing there when police came out. he of dressed in black, wearing a bullet proof vest. had a gas mask because of the gas he released in the theater.

he told the police his car and apartment were rigged with explosives. they've searched the car. they found no explosives. they're now at his apartment which is about four miles from the theater in aurora, colorado. instead of trying to go through the door just as a precaution, they're entering through the window of the apartment. we saw a moment ago the officers responding to the scene ripping out the frame and the screen of the window so that they can enter that way and this is the latest picture we have. you see the firefighters there standing with that long pole and they've been ripping the window frame, the screens and the window frame out so that they can enter through the apartment that way. in the meantime they're trying to check on his background. he was not on a list of any kind of known trouble makers. he was not considered to be any kind of extremist. not connected as far as they know with any terrorist organization which is one reason authorities are saying they don't believe this was a terrorist act. and the only criminal past he has according to the aurora police is a traffic ticket that

was issued to him sometime last year. now, they found four weapons, an ak-47 type if you'll use the expression loosely, assault type rifle. a shotgun and two hand guns. we don't know which of them he fired in the theater but witnesses say they heard him fire not in rapid fashion so it may have been the ak-47 rifle that he fired. and of course he apparently had planned this for sometime because of how well equipped he was when he arrived at the theater. his parents apparently live in san diego. authorities are reaching out to contact them. matt, throughout the entire morning we've heard nothing from anyone on why this young man would have done this, whether he had a grudge against the theater. we found no indication of any kind of statement that he had posted on the internet although that's obviously something authorities will be looking for. >> all right. pete williams in washington. pete, thank you very much. >> let's get over to natalie morales who has the morning's

other top stories at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. as the situation in syria deteriorates into civil war, president bashar al assad made his first televised appearance in weeks. he was seen swearing in a new defense minister on state tv. the successor to one of the four top officials killed in a bombing in damascus on wednesday. this morning the syrian national security chief also died from wounds sustained in that blast. syrian activists say more than 310 people were killed across the country thursday, which would make it the deadliest day since the syrian uprising began 17 months ago. to some important health news now here. whooping cough is rising at epidemic rates in this country as the u.s. is set to have its worst year for the potentially fatal illness in more than 50 years. some 18,000 cases have been reported nationwide so far killing at least nine children. health officials blame the outbreak on vaccine protection wearing off. officials are hunting for the

identity of a suicide bomber in bulgaria who detonated on a bus packed with israeli tourists, killing himself along with six others. u.s. officials say iranian proxy militant group hezbollah is behind the bombing and israel is vowing retaliation. iran, meanwhile, denies any involvement. this as bulgarian officials say the suspect had tried to rent a car and was denied because his fake michigan driver's license raised suspicions. he reportedly spoke english with an accent. a suspect in an attempted kidnapping caught on tape has turned himself in to philadelphia police. 33-year-old carlos figueroa faces a number of felony charges. police believe he is the man seen in the security camera video from tuesday grabbing a 10-year-old girl who was walking with her 2-year-old brother. the girl escaped with superficial injuries. a new study out today shows risky private lending has sent student debt soaring spiking from $5 billion in 2001 to more than $20 billion in 2008.

the government report says the ballooning debt mirrors the sub prime mortgage crisis. it is now six minutes past the hour. you are up to date on some of the other top stories of the day. back over to you. >> thanks very much. mr. roker is here with a check of the weather. al? >> that's right. we have severe weather to talk about down through the southeast but as we look at today you can see that severe weather stretching from the southeast into the mid-atlantic states. also a risk of strong storms back through the western plains. the midwest going to see temperatures again soaring well above 100 degrees. 101 degrees in denver. 100 degrees in kansas city. temperatures in the 80s. much cooler, lower humidity through the great lakes. cloudy skies. a few afternoon showers and morning showers in the northeast. 107 degrees in phoenix, arizona

>> that's your latest weather. savannah? >> thanks. earlier this morning we talked to jennifer seeger who was inside the theater as the gunman walked in and then opened fire. we began by asking jennifer to describe what happened. >> as far as i could see, you know, i didn't think it was anything serious. i thought it was a joke or part of the show, you know what i mean? and he came in and he was five feet away from me as far as i could see. you know, i don't know the exact diameter or anything but he was about five feet away from me. he came in on my right side. i was in the second row on the very front. and he came in and he threw in the gas can. and then i knew it was real. then he shot the ceiling. right after he shot the ceiling he pointed the gun right at me. at that point i dove into the

aisle. and i got lucky because he didn't shoot me. but then he started to shoot people behind me and the bullets started falling on my head. it was like burning my head because it was so fresh. you know? i could smell gun powder and at that point he walked up the stairs and all you hear is mass chaos with people screaming and just gun fire after gun fire. so i was calling and i told my friends that once he gets up there he goes up to the stairs we got to get out of here. so we start crawling. we start crawling. and everybody is going for the door and everybody starts coming back in saying no he is going to shoot the people trying to get out the door. he did. they were trying to escape and he shot those people as well. i was just sitting there and the gas was getting to me. i was coughing. my eyes were tearing up. i was just scared. my adrenalin pumped in and i tried to get out there -- >> jennifer, how did he come in? did he say anything at any point? >> yeah, he didn't say anything as far as i could see. he just came in in a back door next to the -- my right side in the theater through an exit

door. he came in through the back. and he didn't say anything. he just threw the can of spray, gas, or whatever it was. i don't know what it is. i thought it was tear gas. i'm not positive. but he just threw it and he didn't say anything and he just started shooting. >> then you say, let's try and set the scene in that theater again, jennifer. this is matt lauer. he then started to walk up the stairs. are you talking about stairs on a side aisle of the theater? >> yes, sir. yes, sir. that is exactly what he was doing. then at that point everybody was trying to run away and every time somebody tried to run away you would hear screaming and then another gun shot and another gun shot. >> and then was there silence while he was -- we've heard reports that he reloaded at least once maybe two times. were there moments of silence where people escaped during that time? >> oh, yes. oh, yeah. there was moments of silence and lots of screaming as far as that goes. i mean, he wasn't shooting at that time but there was lots of screaming and then at that point they were trying to escape but he had reloaded and he was shooting people like in the

front that were trying to get out the doors. that's why everybody was coming back inside. i was just trapped. i was one of the last people to try to get out. at that point, i had some emt training, not fully certified yet but it just kicked in. there was a gentleman next to me, had to be 18 years old and he had a gun shot to his back and was bleeding everywhere. i checked his pulse and was going to try to drag him out. then they're like no let him go. this guy is coming back. he is going to shoot you. i just ran as an instinct. >> jennifer, he started at the back of theater and made his way to the front? i mean, at some point was he in front of the screen? >> yeah. no. he was -- he started at the very corner of the screen and then he worked his way all the way to the back and back down. like all the way to the stop of the stairs and back down. >> then, jennifer, how did he leave the theater? did he calmly walk out of the theater? did he run out of the theater? >> that's the part i didn't get to see because i was on the ground trying to escape at that point. it was mass chaos. i didn't see how he left. but he looked like he was in the military.

he looked like he was a s.w.a.t. person. i can imagine he just kind of blended in with the chaos of the crowd and people thought he was probably like a cop or something. you know? >> we mentioned earlier, jennifer, i wonder if you could validate this for us, that some people attending that movie were dressed in costume. this is a very popular movie franchise. the midnight showing often attracts people in costume. so when the shooting was over, as people were attempting to leave that theater, were police stopping people and checking everyone to make sure they weren't involved in this? >> honestly when i walked out of that door all i saw were cops cocking their shot guns and walking in at that point. they were just trying to get the guy in general. it was so fresh and so new they were just trying to get in there and get him. they weren't concerned as far as kids. i mean, you know, teenage kids were wearing batman shirts. they were wearing bat ears. they weren't looking like, you know -- >> not like this guy. >> yeah, no. not at all. he looked like he was like in the s.w.a.t. team or like part of the military or something. he had a gas mask and a kevlar

suit and he had a gun and a vest and so he looked like he was part of just s.w.a.t. or something. so, i mean, he could have blended in and people would have probably thought he was a cop if they didn't know any better you know what i mean? >> what did he look like? what was his build? >> he was about i would say maybe six, 6'3" as far as height goes and i would say 185 pounds, 200 pounds. he was lean but he wasn't too big, too fat. he was just really tall and slender as far as that goes. he looked kind of muscular. >> that's our interview with jennifer seeger who witnessed the tragic shooting in colorado. some of the witnesses who are uninjured have been taken to a local high school, gateway high school, where they're being debriefed by law enforcement officials to try and get as much information as possible. we're back right after this. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer.

people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. so fresh and delicious? is it the perfect blend of sunshine, rain and temperature? maybe it's the fact that our juice is always 100% florida and never imported. florida's natural. it's all the salad andfor $25. breadsticks you want. and never imported. 2 appetizers made for sharing. then 2 entrées from 6 of our favorites. like new spaghetti with 4 cheese meat sauce & meatballs. 3 courses, 2 people, just $25. at olive garden. into john stamos. honey! i think i'm getting burned! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? [ men grunting ] open!

[ male announcer ] oikos. possibly the best yogurt in the world. [ men grunting ] open! and you could save nearly one thousand dollars a year. switch to straight talk wireless now you could win that one thousand dollars every week. just tell us how you'd spend it at straighttalkwin.com. same networks. same smartphones. half the cost. straight talk wireless. only at walmart. [ female announcer ] new roc® retinol correxion max. the power of roc® retinol is intensified with a serum. it's clinically shown to be 4x better at smoothing lines and deep wrinkles than professional treatments. roc® max for maximum results. and deep wrinkles than professional treatments. mommy! i went potty! that's great, honey.... where? for life's bleachable moments.

the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. ♪ i woke up to a new day ♪ every little thing gonna go my way ♪ ♪ i woke up to a light bulb on ♪ every little thing is possible now ♪ [ female announcer ] kraft singles have no artificial flavors and they're always made with milk so all you taste is something amazing. ♪ life is amazing with the love that i found ♪ ♪ we continue to follow breaking news out of aurora, colorado where a gunman 24 years

old walked into a midnight showing of the new batman movie and opened fire. we can confirm 12 dead according to aurora police. ten of them still inside that theater and we've been told that 50 people were shot and are being treated at area hospitals. the suspect is in custody. >> we want to find out more about some of those people being treated. nicole williams is with us on the phone. she is with the swedish medical center where several of the injured or wounded are being treated. nicole, good morning to you. i'm sure it's a chaotic morning. what can you tell us? >> it's been very tense. we've had hundreds of phone calls now from very concerned people across the country calling trying to find their husbands, wives, children. it's been a very emotional morning here at swedish medical center. we do have an 18-year-old male who is currently in fair condition, a 20-year-old male who is currently in critical condition, a 29-year-old female in critical condition. we did have a 19-year-old female that transported to our hospital a few hours after the initial event that just had some minor

injuries possibly from some shrapnel is what we're hearing and she has been treated and released at this time. >> can you give us more specifics about the 18-year-old and 20-year-old? where were they shot? what was the extent of their injuries? >> the three that came in initially were all gunshots victims. the 18-year-old was hit in one of his extremities. i believe they were saying his forearm. so he was treated and then has actually been admitted to the floor for observation. but, again, is in fair condition. the other two we know that they've gone into surgery. i don't have the extent of their injuries at this time and we're still waiting for an update post surgery. >> have their families been notified? are they on the scene? >> three of our victims that we received are local here to colorado. we do have one from out of state. we do have family of all of these folks here at the hospital and the out of state patient, he was here with some sort of a conference and several friends

and the chaperones from that are here at the hospital so we do have people here accompanying all of the victims we've received. >> all right. nicole williams with swedish medical center near the scene of this shooting. nicole, thank you very much for your time. i know it's busy for you there. >> absolutely. thank you. >> we've been seeing images this morning from an apartment building, an apartment apparently that belongs to the suspect in this case. authorities were being very careful about whether to enter because according to investigators this suspect told police that there were more explosives inside the apartment. the suspect, who we've identified as james holmes, a 24-year-old man, also allegedly told police that his car that was parked outside the theater had explosives in it. police later determined that there were no explosives inside that car. our pete williams has been reporting on statements that the suspect has made to authorities. we will continue to follow the story out of aurora, colorado and be back right after this. [ male announcer ] we got a real mom

and the family car to do an experiment. we put a week of her family's smelly stuff all in at once to prove that febreze car vent clips could eliminate the odor. then we brought her family to our test facility to see if it worked. [ woman ] take a deep breath, tell me what you smell. something fresh. a beach. a clean house. my new car. [ woman ] go ahead and take your blindfolds off. oh!! hahahaha!!! look at all this garbage!!! [ male announcer ] febreze car. eliminates odors for continuous freshness, so you can breathe happy. how so? you gotta bring the heat. it has to be juuussst right. [ male announcer ] mcdonald's new spicy chicken mcbites, rack 'em up while they're hot. the simple joy of changing the game.

rack 'em up while they're hot. [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

"yoplait strawberry orange sunrise just made my day!" thanks tori! that is a great way to start the day. i also like lemon crème pie in the afternoon and red velvet cake at night. and...but then, ok that's just me. yoplait. it is so good. and...but then, ok that's just me. do you often experience the feeling of a dry mouth? it can be the side effect of many medications. dry mouth can be frustrating... and ignoring it can lead to... sipping water can help, but dentists recommend biotene. biotene moisturizes and helps supplement some of saliva's enzymes, providing soothing relief when you need it most. don't ignore dry mouth... look for biotene in your oral care section today. this has been medifacts for biotene.

well, in the wake of that tragic shooting in colorado tonight's paris premiere of "the dark knight rises" has been canceled and warner brothers, the studio that distributes the film, has also issued a statement. warner brothers is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. we extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time. our guest as senior writer for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." good morning to you. >> good morning. >> we don't know anything about the motive, whether this was a crime of opportunity or if the suspect came because of this movie, but for those who haven't seen it, is this a very violent movie? >> it is an incredibly violent movie. you know, christopher nolan the director of this film has a lot

of parallels to september 11. gotham city really feels like new york city in the aftermath of a huge attack. there are these rogue terrorists shooting gunfire into crowds of people. there are going to be really chilling echoes for people to actually go and see this movie this weekend. >> this movie has a cult-like following. "the dark knight" the first in the series was extremely popular. is there kind of a dark culture around the movie? >> a little bit but, you know, it is batman. the last movie made $533 million. it's the number four most successful movie of all time. this one was ontrack to open with the biggest opening hollywood has ever seen. it made $27 million just on the midnight showings. so thousands of people went and saw this movie last night and came out okay. it was just this one theater where this was such tragedy. >> warner brothers released a statement, obviously has canceled a premiere. suffice it to say this is an extremely delicate situation for the studio of course whether to go forward with the showings of this movie. >> absolutely. there were midnight showings,

1:00 a.m., 2:00 a am showings around the country. we'll see if those happen. a lot of moms are worried about sending their kids to see this movie especially after the shooting today. i don't know if it is going to happen. >> you talked about the midnight showings. there was so much excitement and anticipation. give us the scene. we heard about at least in colorado some people had dressed up for the occasion. is that the classic midnight movie situation when you have something like this? >> absolutely. this is a tradition for hard core fans. it happens for every big franchise, "star wars" and "spider-man" they'll line up and go inside and dress like the characters they really like. this is for the hard-core people that love the franchise. that was what the midnight showings are for. people who really love the movie. >> we had heard because of bad reviews on a website some of the commentors had gotten quite angry, some death threats. there has already been controversy surrounding this film.

thank you so much for this discussion this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we'll continue with our breaking coverage of the shooting in aurora, colorado with more news right after this. f

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> no rain. we have missed the conditions. -- misty conditions. there is still a front in the area, will be there all day today noncom showers and

we're back with more today on a friday morning and we have been covering all morning long this tragic shooting out in aurora, colorado where a gunman walked into a movie theater just past midnight mountain time. it was a movie showing of the dark knight. he walked into a crowded theater, threw a gas canister, some kind of tear gas device, and then opened fire. at the moment we know that 12 people are confirmed dead, up to 50 people have been shot. we're awaiting a news conference from aurora medical center, which is one of the places where many of the injured and wounded have been taken. we should get to that and we'll have it for you as it occurs. the suspect, a 24-year-old named

james holmes, is in police custody. >> he is in police custody. at this hour we do not believe he has a significant police record to report. he is 24 years old. this is somebody who walked into that theater absolutely armed to the teeth according to investigators with at least two hand guns, a rifle, and a shotgun, an ak type gun is what we were told although many witnesses have told us that there wasn't a continuous shooting so it may not have -- >> where you told the trigger down and it fires a lot of bullets. it was more one bullet at a time. >> indicating it may not have been an automatic rifle. at this hour we've been showing images of police outside an apartment in aurora, colorado believed to belong to this spect, 24-year-old james holmes. >> the president was notified early this morning. he has issued a statement showing sympathy for those people who were affected by this tragedy. presidential candidate mitt romney has also released a statement. any time you talk about a shooting incident like this and talk about guns in our society

politics comes right in. new york's mayor michael bloomberg used a portion of his weekly radio address to call on president obama and presidential candidate mitt romney to respond to the mass shooting in aurora, colorado by detailing their plans to improve gun control. the mayor said soothing words are nice but he said it's time to hear the presidential candidates stand up and tell us what they're going to do about it. as many of you know bloomberg heads up a coalition of american mayors who want tighter gun control. >> we of course await a news conference from the hospital. we also await a statement from president obama as you mentioned as well as the republican presumptive nominee mitt romney. >> that's right. we've thrown our show into flux this morning but let's get back to some of the things we do on a normal basis. al is here with a check of the weather. al? >> all right. thank you. let's see what we've got for your weekend as we try to establish some norm alzy again. we have a slow moving system that is going to bring rain from the mid-atlantic, southeastern atlantic states into the gulf coast. beautiful weather in the pacific

northwest. nice and mild. sizzling conditions in the plains. it's going to be warm to mild conditions upstate new york, new england. moving into sunday we've got more rain along the southeastern atlantic coast. look for sizzling conditions from the plains all the way down to texas. it'll be hot in interior sections of california and nevada. mild a that's your latest weather. >> thanks, al. we'll have continuing coverage of the tragic shooting out in

aurora, colorado in a little while but first these messages. [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient...

just look for the white check.

so fresh and delicious? is it the perfect blend of sunshine, rain and temperature? maybe it's the fact that our juice is always 100% florida and never imported. florida's natural. it's all the salad andfor $25. breadsticks you want. and never imported. 2 appetizers made for sharing. then 2 entrées from 6 of our favorites. like new smoked mozzarella chicken. 3 courses, 2 people, just $25. at olive garden.

when this shooting took place just after midnight out in aurora, colorado, victims of the shooting were taken to several different trauma centers in the area. we've already spoken to the pr director for the swedish medical center. they're treating three people as a result of this shooting. a lot of the victims we know were taken to the aurora medical center and we're awaiting an update from the director of that medical center right now. we should get that in a couple minutes. >> we may have it in progress. we can take a look. the director of e.r. is expected to brief reporters in aurora, colorado. here we have that news conference now. >> at this point i don't have any information on anybody who is that young that was seen at this facility. there were teenagers here but we don't have anybody younger than

that. [ questions inaudible ] >> well, we serve this community as a level two trauma center and have for many years and i think we're always prepared. this is certainly outside the scope of what we routinely see, but again, i think they all banded together and did a very, very good job. >> you were here last night. can you describe what the scene was like as these patients started coming in? i think there was a lot of uncertainty at the initial stages so there was a lot of chaos at the beginning but everybody settled down and we actually took the patients rather rapidly, assessed them, assessed their needs and many of which were treated immediately and then taken to surgery. >> are there still people in critical condition here? >> yes there are. four are in critical condition that i'm aware of at this point. at this point we think it was some sort of gas, tear gas type situation.

we don't have a specific identification at this time. but the patients we did see had burning skin, burning eyes, burning and irritation to their nose and mouth. those three patients were seen, decontaminated, and actually have been discharged. >> are they over the hump yet or is it still -- is there still more time -- >> i think certainly this is a very difficult time for a lot of those patients but we're very optimistic. again, excellent surgeons here taking care of those patients. no fatality atalities but we're very early stage. those in critical condition, the information that i have -- the back and torso at this point. >> to update you on what he is saying, on a couple occasions he talked about four critically

injured patients at that facility. no fatalities at that facility. but we know according to police reports that at least 12 people have been killed. there were some lesser injuries, contamination from whatever kind of tear gas device was set off there and those people were treated and released. >> earlier we spoke to an official from the swedish medical center, another hospital that has been treating victims and they had three to four. one person was able to be released so they had three more serious victims of gun shot wounds who actually had gone to surgery. as we know, at least 12 dead. we're told ten of them are still inside the theater. two later died at hospital. >> the medical center, he was talking about the fact that they are used to dealing with this kind of trauma though this was certainly outside the scope. natalie is here and she was talking before. obviously we should bring up the fact that aurora is about 20 miles from littleton, colorado. >> right. >> we all remember in 1999 that was the scene of that deadly and tragic school shooting. >> right. and i don't think you can escape

sort of that history although people in colorado certainly are trying to get away from that. but clearly, it was a traumatic incident then and this is once again i think making people remember what happened back then, 13 years ago as you recall. but, you know, it is a community very close by. littleton, colorado is only a 25 to 30-minute drive away. my father-in-law lives in littleton, colorado. it is something that people certainly can't get away from that past, unfortunately. >> all right. we'll have much more on what is a developing story. we'll do that right after this break. ♪ watch out, wishful thinking ♪ ooh la la, read between the lines ♪ ♪ i know a blessing in disguise ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] you know the difference between paying more and getting more. that's value sense. at scott we're all about value. introducing the scott shared values program. get deals like free movie rentals, free admission to family attractions and more.

use your value sense. sign up at scottbrand.com. would they switch? notice a difference? it feels a bit tight. [ female announcer ] soap leaves behind soap residue that can cause a tight draggy feeling. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove cleansers rinse cleaner than soap. john. loo. latrine. head. bog. the oval office. the porcelain throne. the toilet. . . . a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel.

so delicious...so fun. of mcdonald's new spicy chicken mcbites. poppable pieces of tender chicken breast seasoned with just the right amount of spice, but just for a limited time the simple joy of spicy perfection. and you could save nearly one thousand dollars a year. switch to straight talk but just wirelessmited time now you could win that one thousand dollars every week. just tell us how you'd spend it at straighttalkwin.com. same networks. same smartphones. half the cost. straight talk wireless. only at walmart. into john stamos. honey! i think i'm getting burned! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? [ men grunting ] open!

[ male announcer ] oikos. possibly the best yogurt in the world. nikki! rick! wow, you look terrific! [ female announcer ] the whitening you've always wanted. new crest 3d white glamorous white toothpaste. your smile will shine brighter after just one brushing, and it removes up to 90% of surface stains in just 5 days. for a smile so white, you won't just be the ex-girlfriend. you'll be the one that got away. crest 3d white glamorous white toothpaste. life opens up when you do. as we cover breaking news out of aurora, colorado we want to play a bit of scanner traffic. police radio traffic that was heard as this was unfolding earlier today. take a listen. >> 314 there is at least one person that's been shot but they're saying there's hundreds of people just running around. >> lincoln 25 send me a whole

bunch of available cars to all three districts. >> copy all available units respond to the theater. >> battalion one on the shooting 9 george 2 century theaters 14300 east alameda avenue. engine 8 to battalion one on a shooting century theaters 14300 east alameda avenue cross of south of abilene. respond on tack 2. >> once again we understand the first call came in at 12:39 local time. it was such a scene at the theater that so many victims that police were actually just putting them in the back of their cruisers and taking them to the hospital. >> that's right. 17-year-old tanner coon was at the back of the theater with a friend and the friend's 12-year-old brother. tanner is with us now. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you were in the back of the theater from all reports we've heard this gunman entered from the front corner of the theater. what was the first time you realized that something was going wrong in there?

>> well, the first time i realized what was going on was after the first few shots were fired. before that i saw the canister fly across the room and i thought it was just some prank and then i saw the first shot and i thought it was maybe fireworks. then three more shots were set off and i knew this was real. i knew this was definitely gunshots. >> we were told that the gunman started firing at the front corner of the theater and then in some ways meticulously or methodically made his way up the steps that were in the aisle along side the side of the theater. how close do you think that gunman actually got to where you were? >> probably about maybe 20 feet. my friend the 12-year-old told me he saw him because he was on the edge of the aisle seat. he told me that he saw him coming up and he did get about half way up the stairs which was pretty close. maybe between ten to 20 feet.

>> there was understandably a lot of panic in that room. there were also moments where there was no shooting as we understand that the gunman was actually reloading. were people trying to escape during those lulls in the shooting? what were you doing? >> yeah. i saw some people start to get up. i poked my head up to see what was going on and when i did that i saw another flash and instantly put my head down so he started shooting again. >> you ended up getting up and actually trying to go behind you i understand you told us earlier to get out of that theater and then describe for me what happened to you and what you saw in the road behind you. >> i went to the road behind me to try to get to the exit and slipped on some blood, landed on a lady. i saw her heels. i shook her. i told her we need to get up. you need to get out of here. there was no response. so i presumed she was dead. >> how long after that did you actually make your way out of that theater? >> it was probably about another

20 seconds trying to make my way into the doorway outside the exit. i waited for some friends. it was probably another minute because we were afraid that he might be in the lobby so people were looking out in the glass. they said they saw a flash, possibly another shot but that was not true. but it was about another minute after that it took me to get out of the theater. >> tanner, i'm thinking about this. you're 17 years old. you're at a midnight showing of a highly anticipated movie. was it your parents who dropped you off? how did you get back in touch? i can only imagine the trauma your parents were going through knowing that you were at that midnight showing. how did you get in contact with them? >> well, my friend's parents -- their dad actually dropped us off but we made our way to a restaurant that was nearby the theater and we -- i called my sister since she usually comes

and picks us up. i told her there was a shooting. i told her she needs to come to the theater right now. i told her, you know, that we were by this restaurant and she came. she didn't understand the actual seriousness of what was going on, that i was in the actual theater or anything like that. they got there. we talked to them. we also, while we were wait forgue my sister to come they talked to their parents. my friends talked to their parents and told them exactly what happened and when my dad and my sister got to where we were i told them i was in that theater. he let off, you know, 40 plus rounds into the audience and, i mean, it was very traumatic. i actually went home after that and later went to gateway to be interviewed by the police but when i was home my mom was of course freaking out and it was very traumatic. >> i can imagine your parents were probably never happier to see you than they were when you got home from that school in that theater, tanner. we really appreciate your time

this morning. we know what you've been through. >> thank you. >> we'll be back in a moment with more coverage of this shooting in aurora, colorado. this is "today" on nbc.

we're looking at the housing complex right now where the suspected gunman is believed to live. police still combing over carefully the scene there trying to clearly assess the situation, taking all necessary precautions because the 24-year-old suspected gunman named -- identified as james holmes -- did make a statement to police stating that there were weapons, possibly even explosives inside his apartment. police taking an abundance of caution there. they've actually cleared the surrounding areas as well to make sure they continue to make

sure the situation is clear and okay. >> just after midnight, this is a highly anticipated movie, the first chance people in that area and other parts of the country have to see this movie "the dark knight rising." we understand there were lines formed. it was showing at what, three different theaters in the complex? >> a 16 theater complex. across the country this was the event of night, midnight showings across the country. the movie just alone in those midnight showings made $27 million, breaking i think all expected box office expectations there. clearly, this was just a horrible event that nobody could foresee was coming. >> so many theater goers, witnesses we've talked to this morning told us initially they thought this was perhaps a publicity stunt. perhaps part of the midnight showing, the premiere. >> a lot of the movie goers dress as the characters to take part in that. there was going to be a big event in paris tonight the premiere of "the dark knight

rising" and warner brothers has canceled that. >> we have a statement from warner brothers as well, the studio that distributed the movie saying, quote, warner brothers and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. we extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time. >> as we mentioned there is a press conference that should be held mountain time in just a little while. police hopefully will be able to shed a lot more light on the suspect at that time, this 24-year-old who pete williams has told us has no major criminal record. just a traffic ticket about a year ago. but hopefully we'll be able to figure out why he decided to do what he did, taking 12 lives and injuring so many. more throughout the day on msnbc and tonight on nbc news with brian williams and a special edition of "dateline nbc." #f#f#f