abc's brian ross has the latest on james holmes. >> reporter: when the mother of james holmes was reachedn her san diego home today and first told what had happened overnight, she expressed little surprise. "you have the right person," she told abc news. "i need to call the police." authorities said today the planning for the theater attack began at least two months ago when holmes purchased the first two guns of his arsenal at denver-area stores, passing the required background checks. >> in the last 60 days he purchased four guns at local metro gun shops. and through the internet he purchased over 6,000 rounds of ammunition. >> reporter: it was over the last few months that holmes, who was phi beta kappa in college, saw his academic and career dreams collapse as he withdrew from a ph.d. program in neuroscience at university of colorado's denver campus. >> i think the motive is his life has continued to collapse for i bet a number of months or maybe even a few years. and as his issues with perhaps delusion, paranoia got greater, he couldn't deal with what was going on around him. >> repo

holmes' first name? >> i don't know. [ inaudible ] >> i'm not going to be releasing that information. again, we're only here to preserve the peace. we're not here to conduct an investigation or to do anything else, just to preserve the peace. there are other investigative agencies that are here. >> did you say other family members have arrived or family friends? >> family friends. >> to your knowledge, no other family members are in the home other than the woman? >> there are other family members that reside here. they are still here, and the people that you see coming in have been friends of the family. >> there are other family members living in the home with mr. and mrs. holmes? >> do you have any communication with james? >> unfortunately, no. >> the media is who notified the family of the events. i don't know when the last time is they communicated. >> maybe somebody asked you, but are their investigators here? >> there are other investigative agencies that have come to get some background informati

he asked if i was arlene holmes and my son was james holmes who lives in aurora, colorado. i said yes, you have the right person. i was referring to myself. i asked him to tell me why he was calling. he told me about a shooting in aurora. he asked for comment. i told him i could not comment because i did not know if the person he was talking about was my son. i would need to find out. >> greta: who wants to talk more to the parents, the defense or the prosecution and what are they going to ask? >> i think that both sides certainly are going want to talk to the parents. one of the things that i want to know from the parents is what kind of a psychological psychiatric record that this guy may or may not have had through thinks childhood and adulthood. this abc reporter may have caught this woman by surprise. i'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. when she said i think you have the right person. the answer we want to draw, the inference we want to draw is that he lunatic. >> greta: i think the statement was made both ways when you are awakened in the middle of the n

police say holmes meticulously planned the assault. he apparently surveil it had theater and pre-staged his car and weapons near an access door. outside that door today, police recovered some of the body armor which the gunman wore during the assault. holmes has no criminal record and police say so far they've establish nod motive for the shootings. a search of social networking sites has turned up no significant clues. now, sources tell us at first holmes was cooperative with police, but since then he's clammed up and has gotten a lawyer. so far he's offered no explanation whatsoever, scott, for the shooting. >> pelley: bob, thanks. james eagan homes has roots in southern california so we sent bill whit dore san diego to find out more about him. >> reporter: 24-year-old james holmes left different impressions on people he encountered in life. at the university of california, river side, where he graduated with honors in neuroscience in 2010 he's remembered as brilliant. tim white is university chancellor. >> he was an honors student.

and new pictures of holmes have emerged as well. in a summer lab program for pre-med college students in san diego where he grew up. that was six years ago. we have a team of correspondents working this story tonight, looking at those lives cut short, those who survived and the investigation. joining me first is barry petersen with what we're learning about some of those who died. barry. >> reporter: the effort today has been to identify the dead. so far names of 11 of the 12 victims, and the release of every name is news that is devastating to family and friends. on his 27th birthday, alex sullivan had much to celebrate-- his coming one-year wedding anniversary, and from the batman premiere, he tweeted, "oh, man, one hour till the movie, and it's going to be the best birthday ever." then came the chaos. his desperate father, tom, captured in this picture, hunted for a word. >> call me. find my son, call me! >> reporter: late last night, the worst news possible: alex was dead. he was one of the victims remembered at this makeshift m

a point involving james holmes' mother, arlene holmes. there you see james holmes with the died red hair in kour. she wanted to make it clear that when someone from abc newsed called on friday to ask about james holmes. she uttered the words, you have the right person, she was referring to the fact -- tht arlene holmes, the mother, the abc person was speaking to the mother of james holmes. she was not implying. not suggesting in any way anything was wrong with james holmes. that, in fact, she knew james holmes was involved in this incident at all, and the attorney is now wanting to make it clear that the mother had no idea what was going on in colorado. had no idea that her son was involved in anything along these lines. we're here in "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer. we'll go to the scene. e lavendera is in aurora. there are important developments happening in the case. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, som

they need more than a picture that may just look like holmes.we know, his computer, if he has one, has not been recovered. if he left it in his apartment, well, as we know, police can't get to it because of all the explosives they're now trying to diffuse. retired fbi assistant director tom fuentes says the computer could be very valuable. >> the cyberforensic experts can examine the computer and see who he was in contact, which websites he went to, what he may have been able to download, as far as to learn how to create these devices, and/or any other websites, such as this, which might help to identify him. >> now, again for now, no way to confirm if this is the suspect, and if it is him, what it all means. >> susan will continue working her sources. thank you, susan candiotti. >>> so we're beginning to get a little bit of a picture of james holmes, but there are lots and lots of unanswered questions and there's legal questions involved as well. for example, how you defend him in a court of law? we're asking two of the nation's top legal minds

wasn't it james holmes? >> reporter: he was relieved he followed his instaints and warned his staff not to -- instincts and warned his staff not to let him into the club. on july 2 holmes ordered $300 worth of tactical equipment from an online company tacticalgear.com according to this receipt obtained

finally, the suspect, james holmes, he is in police custody.e expect to see him for the first time monday for his first court appearance. let's stay on the suspect for right now. investigators are still waiting to get into his apartment. looking through the window they found an arsenal and they found booby-traps. our poppy harlow is at the complex. poppy, good morning to you. how long will it be until police can get into the apartment? do we know? >> we now have an answer to that. this just coming into nick valencia. frank is with the aurora police department, gary. he tells us that the fire department here, along with atf, will be returning to the residence of james holmes, right behind my right shoulder here, at around 7:00 a.m. local time. that's two hours from now, in colorado. it's not clear whether they're going to be allowed or plan to go into the apartment but they will come back here on scene. we will certainly be trying to talk to them. the reason with he don't know whether they will go in or not is because of how vexing, perplexing a

did -- holmes did. that's beginning to give an understanding how he put together the materials he needed, not only the ammunition and guns for the attack at the movie theater but to rig his apartment, as well. >> jim, i understand today certainly is an important day and big day for people here. president obama is coming to visit with the families of the victims of the shooting. can you tell us more about the agenda? is he going to be at the hospital, where will he be? >> we're not exactly sure where he'll go. he's expected to land later this afternoon and speak with family members of people who were deceased. maybe people who were shot and survived, he'll also meet with local leaders. he won't go to the vigil tonight. a lot of local leaders will be spoking, prayers, things like that. a lot of people in the community are looking forward to that as an opportunity to all be together. that's this evening in aurora. >> and tomorrow, james holmes, we've opinion talking about there all weekend, will have his f

james holmes, the shooting suspect.ice are saying, pardon me, he built up an arsenal over the last 60 days, purchasing four guns, some 6,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as a magazine allowing him to fire more than 50 bullets per minute. now, at the scene, police recovered a handgun. we're showing you pictures now here, a handgun, a military style semi automatic rifle, and this is what happened according to police, holmes bought a ticket to the early morning screening of the "dark knight rises", once it started he propped over the emergency exit and went outside to put on protective gear and aurora's police chief says the suspect was dressed in all black swearing tactical gear, a gas mask and the gunman entered the theater and then set off gas cannisters. >> some people in the audience believed at that point it was part of the show, but it quickly turned into chaos. as the crowd tried to escape the bullets, 200 officers responded to the scene and when they arrived, police arrested holmes in the theater's parking lot. a

james holmes physical appearance disturbs some victims in the court. >> james holmes had brightly died hair and appeared to be daze for his first court appearance. >> you have a right to remain silent. >> the suspected gunman refused to look at the judge while he was read his rights. several times it looked like the 24-year-old was nodding off. >> you're currently being held on a no bond hold. >> prosecutors said they didn't know whether holmes was on medication. >> there's no such thing as a slam dunk case. it is a case where we will -- we're still looking at the enormous amount of evidence. >> the district attorney said her office will consider pursuing the death penalty and consult with the families of the victims before making that decision. >> if the death penalty is brought, that's a long process that impacts their lives for years. . >> family members of several victims were in court during the hearing. some said they just wanted to see the suspect face to face. >> david sanchez's pregnant daughter escaped without injury. she is due to give birth today. her husband is in critical

jim axelrod has that as holmes prepares to appear in court. also joe paterno's iconic statue removed. armen keteyian shows the sanctions it to be imposed on the penn state football program tomorrow. >> this is captioning sponsored by cbs the "cbs evening news" with jeff glor reporting tonight from aurora, colorado. >> jeff: and good evening, everyone. the epicentre of this tragedy is the theatre behind us. but tonight the focus of the investigation and the remembrance has moved well beyond. some explosives and chemicals removed from james holmes' apartment have been destroyed though investigators saved samples that are being sent to the fbi lab in quantico, virginia. the accused killer posed with brightly died hair for a photograph is scheduled to be in court tomorrow. and president obama arrived near buckley air force face. will meet privately with families of the victims. as the immensity of the the toll here comes into focus the driving question remains, why. barry petersen begins our coverage. >> reporter: the 12 dead have now all been ide

suspect james holmes grew up in the san diego area.rd allen from our affiliate kfmb spoke with some who knew him there. >> just a shock. you never think that you know somebody who's going to commit such a horrible crime. >> reporter: this young woman, who asked not to be identified, attended a prestigious summer internship at the salk research institute with aleged mass murderer james holmes back in 2006, when holmes was an upper classman at westview high school. >> he was a very quiet person. he didn't talk to us. i think all of us were very excited to be there, so we were friendly and talking about college plans, but he never really wanted to associate with us. >> reporter: those who knew holmes say they didn't know him well, and while strikingly intelligent, he kept to himself. >> james seemed to be a quiet, very nice guy, no problem at all. >> he was quiet, yeah, quiet and really smart. >> reporter: after graduating westview high school and uc riverside with a degree in neuroscience, holmes had enrolled in a ph.d program at the uni

but today, many are left to wonder how holmes bought $15000 worth of guns, s.w.a.t. gear and rounds of ammunition. i wanted to buy tactical gear, i could go online and buy armor, whatever i wanted. most states, it's just as easy. he bought 6,000 rounds on this site. i'm trying to buy ten times that amount. 60,000 rounds of ammo for an assault rifle. i am up to payment information and i haven't had to look anyone in the eye. sites like these are not required to notify authorities of such purchases. sources tell abc news holmes was able to purchase s.w.a.t. gear identical to that of police. one official described the difference as negligible. police say holmes was wearing one item that was different from police but won't say what that item was. it was the eagle eyes of two officers who noticed the different item and made the arrest ending the nightmare. >> and made the difference. thank you. pierre thomas, also reporting the story four straight days. thank you. >>> now we move on to other big news today. the unprecedented punishment against the penn state football prog

that was james holmes apartment today. that small explosion was set off by police and the fbi after they found out that the front door was rigged to blow up in the face of whoever opened it. the police who live in that area, the people who live in that area and that building had been out all day yesterday and all day today. they don't have a place to stay. we're going to hear from them in a moment. first, i want to show you some live pictures right here not far from where i'm standing. people are gathering for a second night outside the movie theater where 70 people were either killed or wounded in one shooting rampage. people of aurora, colorado, are mourning today. over my shoulder behind me at the theater where it happened, there were police officers just on the scene moments ago. they were removing evidence and looking that. in the meantime, police are releasing the names of all the victims as their families are informed now. the last of the 12 games were made public just a short time ago. just look at this picture. an

it was james holmes' message.olmes was also recently on this website posting a picture in red hair. it is a sex site. adult friend finder.com. still on the outside, james holmes appeared normal. jackie mitchell, a neighbor, remembers having a beer with holmes at this local bar. it was just four days before the shooting. >> i mean, just intelligent looking guy. so, i mean, i don't know -- you don't know what a killer looks like. it didn't look like him. >> reporter: few answers to what became of the james holmes who showed so much promise a dozen years ago. >> i would like to know what happened in that 13 or 14-year period that led to this, because it's, obviously, not the kid we went to school with, and it's a real tragedy what happened and what took place and a tragedy for his family and for all of the victims' families, and it's a horrible thing that this happened. and i just wonder how this could happen and why. >> reporter: a question aurora is asking. coming up, a shattered community tries to recover from the

still on the outside, james holmes appeared normal.kie mitchell, a neighbor, remembers having a beer with holmes at this local bar. it was just four days before the shootin shooting. >> i mean, just intelligent looking guy. i mean, i don't -- you don't know what a killer looks like, it didn't look like him. >> few answers of what became of the james holmes who showed so much promise a dozen years ago. >> i would like to know what happened in that 13 or 14 year period that led to this. it's obviously not the kid we went to school with. it's a real tragedy what happened and what took place. a tragedy for his family and all the victims' families. it's a horrible thing this happened. i wonder how this could happen and why. >> a question aurora is asking. >>> coming up, a shattered community tries to recover from the tragedy. >> we will remember. this is new york state. we built the first railway and the first trade route to the west. we built the tallest skyscrapers, the greatest empires. we pushed the country forward. then, some said, we

we don't know what holmes' motive may have been.e was well planned. aurora police chief dan oates said holmes came ready for action. >> the suspect was dressed all in black. he was wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask and black tactical gloves. >> reporter: law enforcement sources tell dateline holmes bought a ticket for the movie and then went into the theater. soon after, they say, he propped an exit door open and went outside to the parking lot. that's when authorities say holmes went to his car, put on his body armor and went back in firing. but who is this young man whose only brush with the law before today, according to police, was a speeding ticket? for one thing, he appears to be different than most people his age. he's kind of an on-line ghost. he doesn't appear to have a facebook page, twitter account or any obvious on-line footprint. holmes grew up in southern california and attended west view high school north of san diego. he

james holmes has been described as clean-cut, responsible, smart.ne seemed to have known him well. drew when you're looking into building and when you hear about these explosive materials, this doesn't surprise you, considering what you have found about this man? >> actually it really only deepens the mystery. a professor said james holmes gave no reason whatsoever why he was leaving the school and withdrawing. not in writing and not verbally to anyone. we also know from a police dispatcher that the university of colorado's campus police, they did do a search of all their records, don, on everything they have on that campus and james holmes name did not come up at all. earlier today, we were at the building where he studied, where he worked in the lab, the neurosciences building. we do know that the police can a dog sweep of those buildings today. the campus was closed. it looked more reprecautioner. we contacted one student who said he was beside him in the labs last summer. he said, quote, i couldn't say i was close to him. i couldn't say anyone w

tonight, a more complete picture of james holmes is beginning to emerge.sen. >> reporter: a reporter says that when they got a hold of james holmes' mother this morning, the first thing she said was, you have the right person. what did she mean by that? what did she know? at first, all we knew about the shooter is that he was taken alive. >> 24-year-old suspect is now in police custody. >> reporter: and we soon learned how he appeared to the terrified people in that theater. >> he's about 6 foot tall, 6'3", anywhere in between that, about 185 pounds 200 pounds, very muscular and just scary. >> reporter: but details about 24-year-old james eagan holmes began to surface quickly. law enforcement officials say holmes had his hair dyed red or orange and told them he was the joker, the batman villain played by heath ledger in the earlier warner bros. film "the dark knight." could he have been role playing a scene right out of that batman movie? >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. for tonight's entertainment -- >> reporter: we don't know what holmes' motive mi

holmes. mr.olmes will be advised of what he is in custody for and what they're investigating and the charges most likely to be brought. >> and the district attorney, i understand, is carol chambers. she's pretty tough, i understand. two of the three people already on death row in colorado have been put there in part by her. >> she is the elected district attorney. i don't know whether she's going to be the one assigned to actually prosecutor the case, but the decisions to be made about what should happen, what charges will be filed and what punishment they will pursue will be made by her, at least in the short run. of course, she is term limited and come november there will be a new elected d.a. in arapahoe county that will be the individual that will then make the decisions on how to proceed. >> do you expect her to seek the death penalty? >> well, i'm sure it's going to be a very serious consideration, but district attorneys, those are one of the most important decisions they do make. i think a

holmes father robert left the home escorted by police. >> as you can understand, the holmes family is very upset about all of this. it's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise. >> that was christine haas from san diego. the hours and days to come, we will be discovering a lot more about james holmes. he went to colorado and was in the process of dropping out of the neuroscience department at the university of colorado in which he enrolled in june of last year. the university would not say if any particular event led to his withdrawal. police say he bought the four weapons legally in the past three months. those weapons were used in this shooting in aurora. >> we tracked down holmes' uncle in caramel. kimber kimberly? >> reporter: his uncle this came as a surprise to him as well and still seems surreal. we talked to holmes, he says he only knew his nephew when they would occasionally see each other during the holidays. they weren't very close, despite them having the same name. we were able to talk to him briefly. he did not want to talk to us on camera, but this is what el

holmes was able to purchase s.w.a.t. gear identical to police. police say 408 ms was wearing one tim that was different from police but won't say what that item was. it was the eagle eyes of officers that made the arrest ending the nightmare. >> and made the difference. thank you. pierre thomas, also reporting the story four straight days. >>> now we move on to other big news today. the unprecedented punishment against the penn state football program for failing to protect children from sexual abuse from coach jerry sandusky. jim avila lays out the decision by the ncaa. >> reporter: the joe paterno legacy crumbling. and punishing him in the grave. snatching back all the wins and everything since the scandal begins. the last official victory. 1987. the key witness in the downfall. adding to the sting of dropping to first in college football wins to 12th. >> they shouldn't take the wins away. >> reporter: the ncaa with a fine of $60 million. but it's the sanctions against the once-proud program that hit penn state the hardest. no high exposure bowl

we don't know if this is the same jim holmes but it is jim holmes of colorado. >> that was brian ross talking to george stephanopoulos on "good morning america." of course, it was not the jim holmes. on a scale of one to five if five is completely lacking in journalistic credibility where would you put this one? >> six. i mean and here is why. not only did they get it wrong, not only did brian ross use that great journalistic tool of going toll find this guy jim holmes but then they put brian ross that night on abc world news at 6:30 p.m. and did a completely different story about the shooting and never apologized. didn't apologize during the day. owed not only the viewer but also mr. holmes the innocent one a full retraction on the air. this goes into too good to check, couldn't wait, didn't even apologize. >> does nobody stop and think maybe we ought to check this out before we go to air with it? >> that is the interesting question about this episode. everybody makes mistakes but where were the editors? where were the people who would say maybe we ought not to put that on the air wh

about holmes' psychiatrist. records show dr. lynn fenton was disciplined of prooibing drugs to her husband, a co-worker and herself. some of the shooting victims remain hospitalized this morning. a fund for the victims grew to more than $3 million over the weekend. back overseas and what may be the decisive battle in the syrian civil war. heavy fighting is reported there this morning. government forces are pounding the city to oust rebel fighters. a u.n. official says 200,000 people have fled aleppa. >> reporter: demolished tanks and rub el littered the streets after syrian troops pounded areas led by rebel forces. troops say they have recaptured part of the country's largest city. u.s. defense secretary said assad's latest attack is that the government's holds rule. >> i think ultimately, will be a nail in assad's coffin. >> assad's regime had been struggling to maintain power after rebels made major advances in syria's two largest cities. but on sunday, government forces declared victory in damascus. a challen

it was james holmes' message. also recently on this website posting a picture in red hair. it is a sex site. adultfriendfinder.com. still on the outside, james holmes appeared normal. jackie mitchell, a neighbor, remembers having a beer with holmes at this local bar. it was just four days before the shooting. >> i mean, just intelligent looking guy. so, i mean, i don't know -- you don't know what a killer looks like. it didn't look like him. >> few answers to what became of the james holmes who showed so much promise a dozen years ago. >> i would like to know what happened in that 13 or 14-year period that led to this, because it's, obviously, not the kid we went to school with, and it's a real tragedy what happened and what took place and a tragedy for his family and for all of the victims' families, and it's a horrible thing that this happened. and i just wonder how this could happen and why. >> a question aurora is asking. coming up, a shattered community tries to recover from the tragedy. >> we will remember.

i mean, neighbors told us that james holmes was a bityou?ell, we see the patterns from all of these mass shootings. the fbi has put a profile together. and this individual, holmes, is starting to fit that profile, and there were warning signs that we do know of for this individual and for other individuals. as you talked about, the seclusion, the isolation, the rage, the anger. and what we see most often is this slow decompensation into mental instability. the problem here, randi, is that many young people who are having these issues, because they may not have hallucinations, therefore, they're not admitted into psychiatric hospitals, they're not a danger to others at the time, and the parents literally are pulling their hair out because they don't know how to get those kids to get the help that they need. the kids don't want to get on the psychotropic medications because they have such side effects, and of course, they don't want other kids or other young people to know that they're having these mental health issues. >> yeah, and in this ca