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Editor's note: Paul Callan is a CNN legal contributor, a criminal defense attorney and a former New York homicide prosecutor, including in the "Son of Sam" case. He is a senior partner at Callan, K… Click to Read More and see additional updates

Editor's note: Paul Callan is a CNN legal contributor, a criminal defense attorney and a former New York homicide prosecutor, including in the "Son of Sam" case. He is a senior partner at Callan, Koster, Brady & Brennan, LLP. Callan spoke with CNN about the charges that Aurora, Colorado, shooting suspect James Holmes is facing.

(CNN) -- Can you explain the charges James Holmes is facing?

Paul Callan: Colorado prosecutors have charged the defendant, James Holmes, with 142 counts of criminal conduct for his alleged role in the Colorado movie theater massacre. The staggeringly large number of serious charges is not surprising given the number of victims in the case. (Twelve people were killed and 58 others injured.)

While prosecutors could have proceeded with a more streamlined case, they have elected the safer route of charging as many crimes as possible as the prosecution begins. The case can be streamlined later on if problems develop in proving some of the crimes listed. Additional charges may also be lodged in the future relating to the incendiary devices found by law enforcement authorities at Mr. Holmes' apartment.

Why is Holmes facing two charges for each person who was either killed or injured in the shooting? Is there a strategy behind this?

Callan: Prosecutors have elected to assert two counts of first-degree murder for each person who was killed as a result of the hail of gunfire in the Aurora movie theater. This approach is somewhat unusual.

The first of each of the murder counts alleges that Holmes "after deliberation" intentionally caused the death of his victims. This is the traditional premeditated murder charge that is used in cases of intentional murder throughout the United States. Prosecutors will seek to prove that the murders were planned and that Holmes formed an "intent" to kill his victims before pulling the trigger.

A second more unusual first-degree murder count was added for each victim charging that the manner in which the killings took place evinced "... an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. ..." In many states, this is called a "reckless indifference" murder and is quite different from intentional, premeditated murder. It requires an act of callous and reckless indifference to the value human life which causes death.

An example might be a drunken driver who speeds down a busy city sidewalk, striking and killing pedestrians in the process. Even though the killings may not have been planned or even intended, the conduct is so grossly reckless and maliciously indifferent to the possibility that someone might be killed that the law says it is just as bad as premeditated murder. In fact, in Colorado intentional murder and extreme indifference murder both carry the same potential sentences: life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Prosecutors have hedged their bets by adding the "extreme indifference" counts because proving the intent to murder each individual victim may be problematic. Some victims may have been killed by ricochets, or it is even possible that Holmes' weapon was aimed at the screen when some of the fatal shots were fired. We won't really know all of the details until the evidence is presented.

Should Holmes' lawyers assert that mental illness prevented him from forming the specific intent to kill particular victims, these additional counts will give jurors an alternative theory of guilt. Firing a weapon of any kind in a crowded theater would easily constitute an act of "extreme indifference" murder under Colorado law.

Does charging that way leave open the door for a capital case? Is there another intent behind that second charge?

Callan: The second charge was not added to increase the likelihood of capital punishment. Although the penalty can be imposed for extreme indifference murders, it is more commonly imposed in cases of intentional premeditated murder. Prosecutors have taken this approach to ensure that each victim's family can find some measure of justice in a guilty finding on at least one count relating directly to their loved one's loss.

Prosecutors will be confident that even if the intentional murder of a victim cannot be established, the killing was most surely caused by "extreme indifference to the value of human life" when gunfire was directed at the interior of a crowded movie theater.

The same two-count theory was used in the form of attempted murder counts lodged for many other victims who survived the tragedy but almost suffered death. The prosecutors' rationale for this approach would be the same as with the murder counts.

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CENTENNIAL, Colorado (CNN) -- Colorado movie shooting suspect James Holmes was charged Monday with 24 counts of first-degree murder -- two counts for each of the 12 people killed in the shooting.

Twelve of the murder counts cite "deliberation," and 12 cite "extreme indifference" to the value of human life.

The 24-year-old former doctoral student also was charged with 116 counts of attempted murder -- two for each of the 58 moviegoers wounded in the attack. Finally, he was charged with one count of felony possession of explosive devices and one count related to the use of an assault weapon, a shotgun and a handgun during the incident.

The 142 counts are all in connection with the July 20 massacre in the Century Aurora 16 multiplex minutes into a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Shackled around his wrists and ankles, Holmes was escorted into Arapahoe County Courthouse by two sheriffs deputies. Five other sheriffs deputies were standing in the courtroom.

In his first court appearance last week, Holmes appeared dazed and did not speak. During Monday's hearing, meanwhile, he seemed calm and frail, sitting at the right edge of the defense table with his dyed-orange hair matted on top, its roots dark.

For a while, he stared blankly at the judge's bench but appeared to be aware of what was going on. When the judge asked him whether he understood why his attorneys were asking for more time before a hearing, he said softly, "Yes."

About half of the approximately 120 seats in the courtroom were filled with victims or their family members; more watched on video in an overflow room.

One young man in the front row of the courtroom leaned forward and stared at Holmes without averting his gaze throughout the 45-minute proceeding.

Another observer, her left arm and leg in bandages, sat slumped in her seat. Around her wrist was a hospital wristband.

"It was very important to come today to see him as who he was," MaryEllen Hansen told reporters outside the courthouse. "I really wanted an opportunity to watch his gestures (and) study him as much as I could."

Her niece's 6-year-old daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, was the youngest person killed in the rampage. Hansen's niece, Ashley Moser, faces a long recovery after being paralyzed in her lower half and miscarrying after the shooting.

"I got a sense that he was very aware of what was going on," Hansen said of Holmes. "He had an expression and kind of a persona of evilness to him. But he looked very sane to me, he really did."

Asked if she favors the death penalty, the retired school principal said, "I'm a Christian and I do believe that he should probably be locked away and live with what he did every day of his life."

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said last Monday that it will take time for prosecutors to decide whether or not they will pursue the death penalty, since they'd first want to get input from victims and their relatives.

Authorities have remained silent about a possible motive in the case.

A court document filed Friday revealed that Holmes was a patient of a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack.

The disclosure was made in a filing by Holmes' public defenders requesting that authorities hand over a package he sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton at the university's Anschutz Medical Campus, where he had been studying neuroscience before announcing earlier this month that he was withdrawing from the program.

The package seized by authorities under a July 23 search warrant should remain confidential, protected by the doctor-patient relationship because "Holmes was a psychiatric patient of Fenton," the request said.

In response, prosecutors asked Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester to deny Holmes' request, saying it contained inaccuracies including claims of media leaks by government officials that in reality may have been fabricated by news organizations.

The package is expected to be the focus of a status hearing set for August 9.

Prosecutors say they will begin turning over thousands of pages of discovery in the next couple of days. The defense says they need this information to prepare for the hearing.

During the week of November 12, attorneys expect a preliminary hearing and an evidence hearing that will include several days of testimony.

As Monday's hearing unfolded, 10 survivors remained hospitalized, three of them in critical condition. But there was some progress: The day began at the University of Colorado Hospital at Aurora, for instance, with three in critical, one in serious and one in fair condition and ended with two in critical and three in fair condition.

Meanwhile, those affected continued to come to grips with the horror. On Saturday alone, memorial services were held for four people killed in the massacre including two men -- Matt McQuinn from Ohio and Alex Teves from Arizona -- who died shielding their girlfriends from gunfire.

Closer to Aurora, which is just east of Denver, people worked to make sense of what happened and support one another. For some, that includes making sure the shooting suspect knows that they are stronger, better and united.

"The man was a coward. We're here to show that we have strength and that we're willing to fight back," said Don Lader, after attending Monday's court hearing.

"He looked defeated," Lader added about Holmes, "and he knows that he's not the one with power anymore -- that's us."

CNN's Ed Lavandera and Chris Welch contributed to this report

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- The man accused of opening fire this month inside an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater will have his second court appearance Monday, when he is to face formal charges.

James Holmes is suspected of killing 12 people and wounding 58 during a Batman film premiere on July 20. He is also being held in connection with the subsequent discovery of his booby-trapped apartment, which authorities think he rigged before the massacre in the Century Aurora 16 multiplex.

Holmes is to be led Monday morning through an underground tunnel that connects the courthouse to the Arapahoe County Jail, where he has been held in isolation without bail.

At his court appearance, which starts at 11:30 a.m. ET, he is expected to face 12 charges of first-degree murder, charges of attempted first-degree murder and charges related to the booby-trapped apartment.

In his initial court appearance last Monday, the 24-year-old former doctoral candidate -- his hair dyed various shades of orange -- appeared dazed and did not speak.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said last Monday that deciding whether to pursue the death penalty would involve input from victims and their relatives. A capital case would require a finding of either extreme indifference or deliberation.

Authorities have remained silent about a possible motive in the case.

A court document filed Friday revealed that Holmes was a patient of a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack.

The disclosure was made in a request filed by Holmes' public defenders for authorities to hand over a package he sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton at the university's Anschutz Medical Campus, where he had been studying neuroscience before announcing earlier this month that he was withdrawing from the program.

The package seized by authorities under a July 23 search warrant should remain confidential, protected by the doctor-patient relationship, the request said.

"The materials contained in that package include communications from Mr. Holmes to Dr. Fenton that Mr. Holmes asserts are privileged," said the document. "Mr. Holmes was a psychiatric patient of Dr. Fenton, and his communications with her are protected."

In response, prosecutors asked for Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester to deny Holmes' request, saying it contained inaccuracies including claims of media leaks by government officials that in reality may have been fabricated by news organizations.

Sylvester granted a hearing on the request, which is also scheduled for Monday.

Monday's court appearance comes after a weekend of funerals and memorial services for the victims. On Saturday, family and friends gathered outside Dayton, Ohio, to honor Matt McQuinn, who died while shielding his girlfriend from gunfire.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," said Herb Shaffer, McQuinn's uncle. "In a moment of crisis, you don't have time to think about what you're going to do, all you have time is to react."

Jessica Ghawi was remembered in San Antonio, Texas, by her brother, Jordan, who encouraged mourners to turn the tragedy into something positive. "If this coward could have done this with this much hate, imagine what we can do with this much love," he said.

Ghawi, a 24-year-old aspiring sports broadcaster, had narrowly escaped a shooting incident at a Toronto mall less than two months before the killings in Colorado.

"If you're putting your dreams on hold, you stop that right now," her brother said. "You don't know how long you have here."

A private service was held in Crystal Lake, Illinois, for John Larimer, a 27-year-old Navy petty officer, who received full military honors.

Ten survivors remained hospitalized, four of them in critical condition.

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

(CNN) -- With 17 patients still being cared for after last week's Colorado movie theater shootings, one burden is being lifted by some of the hospitals: medical expenses.

Children's Hospital Colorado said it will use its charity care program and donations to cover medical expenses for victims of the shooting who do not have insurance. Victims who do have insurance will have their co-pays and deductible-related expenses waived.

"We are committed to supporting these families as they heal," Elizabeth Whitehead, spokeswoman for Children's Hospital Colorado, said in a statement.

HealthONE, the health-care system that includes the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, which both are treating patients from the theater shooting, is also taking measures to alleviate victims' costs.

The health system will "eliminate personal financial responsibility for hospital charges as appropriate to each patient and the circumstances these individuals find themselves in" with regard to the shooting victims, according to a statement.

There are more than 1.5 million people in Colorado who were uninsured or underinsured as of November, according to the Colorado Health Access Survey. This represents nearly 30% of people who live in the state. Underinsured means people have significant out-of-pocket medical costs despite carrying insurance.

The most-often reported reason for not having health insurance is high cost, the survey found. Not having access to insurance sponsored by employers, and the loss or transition of jobs, were also frequently mentioned. Fewer employers are now providing health insurance, given that the percentage of Coloradans who got insurance through work was 58%, down from 64% in 2008-09.

Those between 19 and 34 years old are the population group most likely to be uninsured in the state, with 28% of them lacking insurance, according to the survey. Many victims of the Colorado theater shooting are in this age range.

Some find themselves uninsured because they don't have coverage through work, but others make the conscious decision to not buy insurance because they don't have any major illnesses or medical needs, said Dr. Ned Calonge, president and CEO of the Colorado Trust, which administers the health survey every other year.

"There is a bit of a gamble in saying, 'I'm young and healthy,' " Calonge said. "The reality is, you're just one bad day away from a major hospitalization."

Legally, hospitals cannot turn uninsured patients away in emergency situations, so it's not surprising that this would apply for Colorado shooting victims, Calonge said.

But extending additional resources for victims, including those who do have insurance, is philanthropic. It will be more of a challenge for hospitals financially if they decide to cover follow-up care for shooting victims, since they're not bound by law to do so and there's no obvious source of money for it, he said.

"I'm proud of the medical community. I'm proud of our larger community with our response, how quickly we stepped up to the plate, in view of this senseless tragedy," he said. He praised hospitals for making sure patients could be treated "without worrying about who's going to pay for it."

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

(CNN) -- Authorities on Monday discovered a package in a mailroom at the University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus apparently sent by the alleged gunman responsible for the theater shooting that left 12 people dead and scores injured, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said Wednesday.

It was sent to the school's campus in Aurora, where the suspect, James Holmes, had recently dropped out of a Ph.D. program in neuroscience.

CBS News reported that the package was addressed to a psychologist at the university.

"Sources say the letter was from a pent-up Holmes to one of his professors," the news organization reported. "In it, he talked about shooting people and even included crude drawings of a gunman and his victims."

School officials said in a statement that a package discovered at the Facilities Services building on Monday had been delivered to the campus by the U.S. Postal Service that same day and was turned over to authorities within hours of delivery.

"This package prompted the building's evacuation at 12:26 p.m. and employees were allowed to return by 3:06 p.m.," the statement said.

School administrators said that Holmes had taken his preliminary examinations at the school on June 7.

A source familiar with Holmes' academic status said the 24-year-old suspect did "poorly" on the oral exam.

Three days later, Holmes initiated his withdrawal from the program.

"It's very unusual, very unusual for a student to withdraw from our program," Dean Barry Shur told reporters on Monday.

Holmes did not divulge his reason for leaving the elite program. "That area of the form was left blank," Shur said.

Meanwhile, a composite image began to emerge of Holmes as a child; his classmates at Castroville Elementary School in northern California, where he grew up, referred to him as "Jimmy."

But that picture revealed no immediate answers as to possible motive. "He was top of the class," Adam Martinez said. "He was ahead of every student academically."

Martinez added, "He got along well with everybody."

Holmes' fifth-grade teacher there said the matter has led to introspection. "It's really disturbing to be so close to something like that -- bothers you to your essence," Paul Karrer said. "And particularly, as a teacher, you're thinking, this is one of my kids. And then you also think: Could I have done anything? Or did I see anything? Did I miss anything? You know, could I have done anything to have prevented this? Did I do anything to cause this? The answer is no, but that's what you think and that's how you feel."

As of Wednesday evening, five area hospitals were still caring for 17 patients, six of whom were in critical condition.

Several of the hospitals said they would pay for the medical care of uninsured victims out of charity funds.

Holmes made his first court appearance Monday.

The man who identified himself to police as "the Joker" will continue to be held without bond. He is to be formally charged July 30.

Meanwhile, families grappling with Friday's carnage were beginning to bury the dead.

On Wednesday, a memorial service was to take place for 51-year-old Gordon Cowden, who took his two teenage children to see the midnight premiere of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Cowden's children survived the shooting inside the Aurora theater.

Nine miles away, visitation was to take place for Micayla Medek, a 23-year-old woman who had been working toward her college degree.

Those who were wounded still face the specter of permanent injury and long recovery periods.

In Aurora, actor Christian Bale, star of "The Dark Knight Rises," visited a memorial for the dead and met Tuesday with survivors, CNN affiliate KDVR reported.

One of the victims, Carey Rottman, posted a picture of Bale visiting him in his hospital room on Facebook.

"Wow! Thank you so much for the visit Christian! What a great guy! Still in shock!" Rottman wrote, KDVR reported.

Petra Anderson suffered four shotgun wounds, including one to her head. But thanks, in part, to a brain abnormality, she survived, her pastor said.

"The doctor explains that Petra's brain has had from birth a small 'defect' in it," Brad Strait of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood, Colorado, wrote on his blog. "It is a tiny channel of fluid running through her skull, like a tiny vein through marble, or a small hole in an oak board, winding from front to rear."

"Like a marble through a small tube, the defect channels the bullet from Petra's nose through her brain. It turns slightly several times, and comes to rest at the rear of her brain. And in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. In many ways, it almost misses the brain itself," he said.

Anderson has started physical and speech therapy and can walk, talk and laugh, said Andrew Roblyer, a family friend.

Shooting victim Caleb Medley's wife, Katie, gave birth to their son, Hugo Jackson Medley, Tuesday morning. Both the mother and baby were doing well, the University of Colorado Hospital said.

But Caleb Medley, who was shot in the head, lost an eye and suffered brain damage.

"The surgeon came and talked to us and said he'd be in ICU at least a week," said Medley's friend, Michael West, who set up a website to help take care of medical bills and the needs of Medley's family. By Wednesday afternoon, it was more than halfway toward its goal of $500,000.

"I knew it was going to rack up in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions," West said of his friend's expected medical expenses.

Medley, who had been doing standup comedy routines in Denver and was working full-time at Target, had no health insurance, his brother Seth said.

Chloe Anderson has set up a similar fund for her sister, Petra Anderson, an aspiring musician who was also shot in the head. In a video posted Sunday asking for funds, Chloe Anderson notes that her mother was preparing to undergo cancer treatment later this month when Friday's shooting occurred. "My sister's hospital bills on top of that are making the financial reality look pretty daunting," she says. "So that's why we are reaching out to you -- the people who have already asked us what they can do to help."

By Wednesday evening, the fund had received more than $184,000 with a goal of $250,000.

Money is also streaming in to GivingFirst.org, which is accepting donations for the shooting victims and their relatives. By Tuesday, the amount had reached almost $2 million, Gov. John Hickenlooper said.

"The needs will be great and we look forward to seeing the fund grow exponentially," he said. "This money will help those impacted by this tragedy begin to recover and rebuild their lives."

Hickenlooper said donors include Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, co-producers of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Sources at Warner Bros. studios told CNN the company made a "substantial" donation. Warner Bros., a subsidiary of CNN's parent company Time Warner, would not divulge how much money it was giving out of respect for the victims, the sources said.

Shooting suspect Holmes booby-trapped his Aurora apartment with more than 30 homemade grenades and 10 gallons of gasoline, a law enforcement official who viewed video showing the apartment's interior has told CNN.

The sophisticated setup inside the sparsely furnished third-floor, one-bedroom apartment was meant to harm, or possibly kill, anyone who entered -- and tested the skills of bomb squad members charged with clearing it, the official said.

Tenants of the three-story, brick apartment building were allowed to return Wednesday night to sleep in their apartments for the first time since early Friday, when police went door-to-door and rousted them.

The Holmes family issued a statement Friday saying, "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." It added, "We are still trying to process this information."

CNN's Tom Watkins, Holly Yan, Drew Griffin, Kathleen Johnston, Scott Zamost, Elwyn Lopez, Carol Cratty, Poppy Harlow, Dana Ford, Breeanna Hare, Alta Spells, Ed Lavandera, Nick Valencia and Jessica Jordan contributed to this report.

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

GREAT FALLS- Folks who head up to catch a movie in Great Falls any time in the near future are likely to see signs posted in an attempt to assure customers of their safety while at the theater.

Signs were posted at the Carmike theater saying they staff members can check the contents of customer's bags after the mass shooting in Colorado during a midnight showing "The Dark Knight Rises" last week.

According to Carmike spokesman Terrell Mayton, that policy isn't new; they just want to ensure the thousands of people that go to the movies that their safety is a priority.

"At our theaters, we've had a practice for quite some time where we reserve the right to take a look into packages and parcels and backpacks. Just to make sure that our guests are provided a reasonably safe environment and at the same time have a great experience at our theater," Mayton said.

He added that the Carmike will take a look at safety precautions and possibly make a few changes, but he says prohibiting fans from dressing up at movies will not likely be one of those changes.

Mayton says that's a part of the experience he doesn't want to take away from movie fans.

(CNN) -- Call it what you will -- providence, fate or simply a stroke of incredibly good luck -- Colorado shooting victim Petra Anderson has some of it.

Anderson, 22, sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the movie theater rampage last week. Three shotgun pellets hit her arm, and one went through her nose into her brain.

The head injury could have been fatal, but thanks in part to a brain abnormality she never knew she had, Anderson is on her way to a full recovery, according to her pastor.

He said there's just one way to describe what happened: "a miracle."

"The doctor explains that Petra's brain has had from birth a small 'defect' in it. It is a tiny channel of fluid running through her skull, like a tiny vein through marble, or a small hole in an oak board, winding from front to rear," Brad Strait, senior pastor at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood, Colorado, wrote on his blog this week.

"Like a marble through a small tube, the defect channels the bullet from Petra's nose through her brain. It turns slightly several times, and comes to rest at the rear of her brain. And in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. In many ways, it almost misses the brain itself," he said.

"In Christianity we call it prevenient grace: God working ahead of time for a particular event in the future. It's just like the God I follow to plan the route of a bullet through a brain long before Batman ever rises. Twenty-two years before," Strait wrote.

Anderson was one of 58 people wounded when a gunman opened fire early Friday inside a screening of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," at a theater in Aurora, Colorado. Twelve people were killed.

Andrew Roblyer, a friend of Anderson's family, stopped short of describing the condition as a defect. As a neurosurgeon explained to the family, channels or "voids" like hers are not uncommon, but the placement of them is random and can vary, he said.

The 22-year-old was moved out of the intensive care unit Monday. She has started physical and speech therapy and is able to walk, talk and laugh, according to Roblyer.

"She's herself in a lot of ways," he said.

Anderson is a gifted musician and composer. She spent last summer studying composition at the Bowdoin International Music Festival and is an alumna of the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts camp.

She also studied music composition at the University of the Pacific, Conservatory of Music, and was named the 2011 Presser Scholar, a national award for outstanding music students. She graduated this year.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is a neurosurgeon, recalled a case where someone had what looked to be a significant bullet injury to the brain, but the person also had an arachnoid cyst, or a fluid-filled sac.

That condition likely saved the patient's life and may have been what happened with Anderson, Gupta said. But, he added, there are several conditions that could help explain her case.

Anderson's pastor, Strait, described a moment at the hospital when Anderson woke up. She opened her eyes, sat up and asked for her mom, he wrote.

Anderson's mother, Kim, is also sick. She found out recently that the breast cancer she thought was gone is back and has spread to her liver, bones and lungs, according to a website set up to help raise funds for their family.

Anderson is not completely out of the woods either. She needs more surgeries and could, perhaps, undergo facial reconstruction.

Still, for now, family members are thankful for the support they have received so far and focused on the moment.

"We are all in amazement at what happened," said Roblyer, the family friend. "The family is approaching this entire experience with an attitude of gratitude toward the community that has risen up in support of Petra."

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- The suspect in last week's deadly shooting rampage at a crowded Colorado movie theater boobytrapped his apartment with more than 30 homemade grenades and 10 gallons of gasoline, a law enforcement official who viewed video from inside the apartment told CNN Monday night.

The sophisticated set up at the sparsely furnished Aurora home of James E. Holmes was meant to harm, or possibly kill, anyone who entered -- and tested the skills of bomb squad members charged with clearing it.

"Imagine that fireball ... you would have an explosion that would knock down the wall of (nearby) apartments," the official said. "That flame would have consumed the entire third floor (of the apartment complex)."

"By the time a fire truck would have arrived, they would have arrived to a building that would have been completely consumed in flames."

The grenades were wired to a control box in the kitchen, which bomb technicians disabled with the help of a remote-controlled robot that squirted water on it.

"It looked like spaghetti," according to the official, who said it resembled setups that are used in Iraq and Afghanistan, but rarely in the United States.

The control box has been sent to Quantico, Virginia, for forensic analysis at the FBI laboratory, the official said.

But the setup appears to have been "rigged" so that it would have exploded, according to the official. A "post-blast analysis" will determine if it would have worked.

The gasoline was divvied up into glass containers and gas cans in order to "enhance the thermal effect of the explosion," the official said.

Over the weekend, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates told reporters there was "evidence of ... some calculation and deliberation" in the Friday attack at the Century Aurora 16 multiplex.

Holmes received deliveries over the past four months at his home and work addresses, which begins to explain how he may have obtained some of the materials used in the attack and those found at his apartment, Oates said.

The University of Colorado School of Medicine, where Holmes enrolled as a doctoral candidate in its neuroscience program but later withdrew, was investigating whether he received any of the alleged shipments while working as a research assistant at the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Authorities have been tight-lipped about a possible motive in the case, though police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN that Holmes has been uncooperative with investigators and requested an attorney.

The movie multiplex, where the shootings occurred during a midnight screening of the new Batman move "The Dark Knight Returns," will remain shuttered at least until Wednesday to give police time to complete their investigation and allow the suspect's defense team access Tuesday.

Aurora, meanwhile, is bracing for another emotional week as families begin making funeral arrangements. It was not immediately known when the coroner would release the bodies.

On Monday, Holmes made his first court appearance.

Looking dazed at times, Holmes -- who after the attack identified himself to police as "The Joker" -- wore a maroon jumpsuit over a white T-shirt and gave little indication that he was paying attention to the courtroom procedure that ensured he will continue to be held without bond.

He was then led from the courtroom and back to the Arapahoe County Jail, where he is being held in isolation. Formal charges are expected to be filed July 30.

"The charges on which the court found cause included first-degree murder," Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters outside the courthouse. She said prosecutors have a lot of work to do.

"I would say there's no such thing as a slam-dunk case," she said. "We're still looking at the enormous amount of evidence."

Deciding whether to pursue the death penalty is a long process that involves input from victims and their relatives, she said.

A capital case would require a finding of either extreme indifference or deliberation, she said.

Holmes is being held in connection with the shootings that killed 12 people and left 58 others wounded. As of late Monday, at least 15 people remained hospitalized -- five in critical condition -- in four area hospitals.

Four of those killed were active members of the the U.S. military. The Department of Defense is flying flags at half-staff in their honor.

"These acts of heroism and sacrifice are the essence of what military service is about -- putting your life on the line to defend those who are part of the American family," Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said in a statement Monday.

Meanwhile, Lisa Damiani, an attorney representing the Holmes family but not the suspect, said his family members were keeping their location secret. "I don't think they would like the media to know where they are," she said, adding that she feared for their safety.

"They're doing as well as they can, under the circumstances," Damiani told reporters at her office in San Diego, California, where the family lives. "I think everyone can imagine how they're feeling -- anyone who's ever been a parent."

She added, "The family has elected not to discuss James or their relationship with James at this time."

The family issued a statement Friday saying, "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." It added, "We are still trying to process this information."

This story was written by CNN's Ed Payne in Atlanta, with reporting from Poppy Harlow in Aurora. CNN's Josh Levs, Tom Watkins, Dana Ford, Joe Sutton, Ed Lavandera, Nick Valencia, Kathleen Johnston, Drew Griffin, Don Lemon and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- The man accused of shooting into the crowd of a packed movie theater made his first court appearance Monday, giving the public its first look at the 24-year-old former doctoral candidate since his arrest moments after the gunfire ended early Friday.

James E. Holmes, his hair dyed various shades of orange, looked downward, then straight ahead. He sat without blinking for long periods. At times, his eyes fluttered, then squeezed tight and reopened in a blank stare. Occasionally, his eyebrows arched over several days of stubble, giving his face a mournful mien.

But the man who identified himself to police as "The Joker," dressed in a maroon jumpsuit over a white T-shirt, appeared dazed; he gave little indication that he was paying attention to the courtroom procedure that ensured he will continue to be held without bond.

He was then led from the courtroom and back to the Arapahoe County Jail, where he is being held in isolation.

Inside the courtroom, victims and their relatives watched the proceeding. McKayla Hicks was among them. She was seated in the movie theater next door to the one where the killings occurred when a bullet struck her chin. Though she has largely recovered, she said Monday's court appearance was not easy to observe.

"Once he walked into the room, it just made everything a lot harder," she told CNN.

"He just looks like a pathetic freak," she said. "I just want him put away forever."

Jordan Ghawi, whose sister Jessica was among the 12 fatalities, was not in the courtroom.

"This guy's already had his 10 minutes of fame and I don't need to see the face of the man who's taken my sister's life," he said. "I was afraid that I may try to get my hands on that man."

He described Holmes as a coward and a genius. "I don't believe for a second that he's sitting there with his wide eyes and pretending to be incoherent," Ghawi said. "He knows what he's doing."

"The charges on which the court found cause included first-degree murder," Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters outside the courthouse. She said prosecutors have a lot of work to do. "I would say there's no such thing as a slam-dunk case," she said. "We're still looking at the enormous amount of evidence."

Deciding whether to pursue the death penalty is a long process that involve\s input from victims and their relatives, she said.

A capital case would require a finding of either extreme indifference or deliberation, she said.

Holmes is being held in connection with the shootings that left 12 dead and 58 wounded, and the subsequent discovery of his booby-trapped apartment, which authorities believe he rigged before leaving for the Century Aurora 16 multiplex.

Authorities have been tight-lipped about a possible motive in the case, and police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN late Sunday that Holmes has been uncooperative with investigators and requested an attorney.

Arapahoe County public defender James O'Connor has been assigned to the case. The Colorado Judicial Department declined to say whether Holmes requested a public defender. A telephone call by CNN to O'Connor's office was not immediately returned.

Holmes' family is expected to issue a statement Monday afternoon.

Lisa Damiani, an attorney representing the family, told CNN the statement would be made at her San Diego office.

The family, which lives in San Diego, issued a statement Friday saying, "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." It added, "We are still trying to process this information."

Over the weekend, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates told reporters that there was "evidence of, I think, some calculation and deliberation."

Holmes received deliveries over the past four months to his home and work addresses, which begins to explain how he may have obtained some of the materials used in the attack and those found at his apartment, Oates said.

As of late Sunday, at least 17 people remained hospitalized -- eight in critical condition -- in five area hospitals.

President Barack Obama met Sunday in Aurora with survivors and relatives of the dead, and thousands of residents gathered in the city for a prayer vigil that drew state and local officials.

"I confessed to them that words are always inadequate in these kinds of situations, but that my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and let them know that we are thinking about them at this moment, and will continue to think about them each and every day," Obama told reporters after the meeting at the University of Colorado Hospital.

"It reminds you that even in the darkest of days, life continues and people are strong and people bounce back and people are resilient," the president said, after describing the recovery of some victims. "Out of this darkness, a brighter day is going to come."

Though much attention has been paid to the "perpetrator of this evil act," that spotlight will fade, leaving behind just the good memories of those affected by the tragedy, he said.

Aurora is bracing for another emotional week as families begin making funeral arrangements. It was not immediately known when the coroner would release the bodies.

It also became clear that more people may have been killed if the gunman's semiautomatic rifle had not jammed.

Josh Nowlan suffered gunshot wounds but said he is happy just to be alive. "If that gun did not jam, I am full certain that I probably would not be here," he said Saturday from his hospital bed.

A law enforcement source, who spoke Sunday with CNN on condition of anonymity, said the rifle jammed because of a problem with the 100-shot magazine feeding it.

The military-style AR-15 had a separately purchased drum magazine, which can have trouble feeding bullets into the firing chamber if the gun is fired rapidly, the source said.

Investigators say the rifle was one of three guns used Friday by the suspect, along with a shotgun and a .40-caliber pistol.

This story was written by CNN's Josh Levs in Aurora and Tom Watkins and Chelsea J. Carter in Atlanta. CNN's Dana Ford, Ed Lavandera, Nick Valencia, Don Lemon and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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CBS NEWS - The suspected gunman in the Colorado theater massacre faced a judge Monday in his first court appearance after the horrific attack on midnight moviegoers at a Batman film première.

Wearing orange-red hair and looking at times emotional and at other times bleary-eyed, James Holmes sat in a maroon jailhouse jumpsuit as Chief Judge William Sylvester advised him of the case after being held in solitary confinement at an Arapahoe County detention facility since Friday.

Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and he could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations.

Authorities disclosed that he is refusing to cooperate and that it could take months to learn what prompted the mass shooting.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama will assume the now-familiar task of comforting Americans grappling with devastation Sunday as he travels to Aurora, Colorado, two days after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded dozens more at a movie theater there.

The president will meet with families of victims, as well as local officials, in Aurora before continuing on to San Francisco for previously scheduled campaign stops on Monday.

Obama, who was notified of the shooting by his chief counterterrorism adviser Friday morning, cut short a campaign swing through Florida and addressed the shooting at an event early in the day.

"Even as we learn how this happened and who's responsible, we may never understand what leads anybody to terrorize their fellow human beings like this," Obama said in Fort Myers. "Such violence, such evil is senseless. It's beyond reason."

Obama's opponent in November's election, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, also halted his campaign Friday, using a previously scheduled stop in New Hampshire to express sorrow for what happened in Colorado.

Sunday won't be the first time Obama has used his office to comfort survivors of tragedy. In 2011, he traveled to Tucson, Arizona, after a gunman killed six people and wounded several others, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Obama's speech at a memorial service there drew the praise of his former opponent for the presidency, Arizona Rep. John McCain.

"He movingly mourned and honored the victims of Saturday's senseless atrocity outside Tucson, comforted and inspired the country, and encouraged those of us who have the privilege of serving America," McCain wrote in the Washington Post after Obama's remarks.

In 2010, Obama delivered a eulogy for miners killed in the collapse of the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, and this spring, the president delivered the commencement address at Joplin High School one year after tornadoes destroyed much of the town and left 161 people dead.

Just last month, Obama traveled to Colorado to tour areas ravaged by wildfires. Sunday's visit, however, will focus instead on private meetings with families grappling with the loss of their loved ones.

The state's governor said on CNN on Sunday that Obama initially worried that he would be a distraction in Aurora as the community continues to come to terms with what transpired Friday.

"He, obviously, wants to do what he could to help," Gov. John Hickenlooper said on "State of the Union." "He said, 'If I'm a distraction or problem in any way, I shouldn't come.' And as we talked to individuals in the hospital, we talked to the Mayor (Steve) Hogan from the Aurora office, who has done an incredible job, and pretty much I think it was unanimous that if the president could come, it would be a very, very positive thing for this community, especially for the families of the victims."

Obama will not remain in Aurora for a planned vigil on Sunday evening, Hickenlooper said, explaining that the president's presence at that event would have detracted from the focus on victims of Friday's shooting.

"Everyone would have had to come two hours early. It would have overpowered it. And I think it was very sensitive he recognized he's going to do what he can to help these families but not disrupt anymore than what is absolutely necessary," the governor said.

Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said Sunday that the victims' families were eager to meet Obama.

"These families need that kind of contact by our elected leader, and it will be very powerful, and it will help them," Oates said on CBS. "As awful as what they've been through and what they're going through has been, having the president here is very, very powerful. It means a great deal to them and, I think, all of Aurora."

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BOZEMAN- Emotional scarring from an event like the Friday shooting in Colorado can take a lifetime to heal.

A mental health veteran talks about how to avoid desensitizing children to these violent acts.

"A tragedy like what happened in Aurora, at the theater, is a trauma that people will have with them for a long time," Dan Aune said.

"They're gonna have what we call Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD...it may just be driving by the theater, or a theater, it may be the news, will trigger all those emotions you had at that moment in time," he added.

"There's some real structured cognitive behavioral practices that help people do it, there's normalizing the situation, as much as you can...folks who have had maybe little trauma, who are a little fragile emotionally, they will have a more difficult time".

"If you watch it over and over again, you see it, you play it, you begin to fantasize about it, it sorta normalizes all that violence".

His advice: "Watch what your kids are playing and doing, to the community, I would say look at people who are ostracized, disenfranchised, find out how to get connected with them, how they can have a part in the community".

Aune believes that the stigma around mental illness is a huge barrier for proper treatment, and that violent offenders need not only mental, but major spiritual help, as well.

(CNN) -- The 24-year-old man police say opened fire early Friday on a movie audience was a doctoral student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

Suspected gunman James Eagan Holmes was in the school's doctoral neuroscience program and was in the process of withdrawing at the time of the shooting, university officials said. Holmes had enrolled at the university in June 2011.

"As a grad student you have an opportunity to work for the university in the research program for the programs that you're studying," university spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. "He worked in the neurosciences program. It is a paid position."

He lived in Aurora in a one-bedroom apartment in a building whose tenants were primarily other students involved in health studies.

Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said the suspect's sole interaction with the police department was an October 2011 summons for speeding.

Police said the shooter entered the sold-out movie theater dressed in black, wearing a ballistic helmet, a tactical ballistic vest, ballistic leggings, protectors over his throat and his groin, a gas mask and black tactical gloves.

Witnesses saw the attacker throw two canisters -- possibly containing tear gas -- before opening fire. He said nothing, one witness said.

Police arrested Holmes near his vehicle. "He surrendered without any significant incident to our officers," Oates said.

A federal law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that Holmes had colored his hair red and told police that he was "the Joker."

Oates said he would not release the suspect's mug shot "for investigative reasons."

While none of the witnesses has told CNN that Holmes had red hair, they have described the shooter as wearing a gas mask that concealed much of his face and head.

A syllabus that lists Holmes as a student at the medical school shows that he may have taken a class in which he studied topics as diverse as substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression and other disorders.

According to the document, he was to have delivered a presentation in May about microRNA biomarkers.

Holmes had enrolled at the university in June 2011.

Police said Holmes was living in a small apartment on Paris Street in Aurora, in Apartment 10, within walking distance of the school.

"Neighbors report he lived alone and he kept to himself," Oates said.

Apparently, Holmes told police that he had booby-trapped the third-floor apartment. "We are not sure what we're dealing with in the home," Oates said. "They appear to be incendiary devices; there's some chemical elements there. ... They're linked together with all kinds of wires. As a layman, it's not something I've ever seen before."

Bomb technicians were on site, and it could be days before the matter is resolved, he said.

Authorities have postponed any efforts to enter the apartment until Saturday, Oates said. Resources from the federal government are being brought in to assist, he said.

Donald Robert Davis, 52, lived in that same apartment for about two years before moving out about a year ago. He described it as an approximately 850-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment with one bathroom for which he paid $525 per month, not including utilities.

On Friday, authorities evacuated the entire apartment building and four others nearby after Holmes made a "statement about explosives" to police, Oates said.

Jackie Mitchell, who lives close to Holmes, had a beer with the suspected gunman on Tuesday.

Mitchell expressed shock Friday over the attack.

"You would never guess he was a violent guy," Mitchell said, describing Holmes as "nerdish" and "a book-smart type guy."

A neighbor who lives one floor below Holmes' third-floor apartment, Tori Lynn Everhart, described the apartments this way: "It's not like true ghetto. It's not the safest neighborhood, but it's definitely improving."

In San Diego, the suspect's family issued a statement saying they were still trying to process the news.

"Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved," the Holmes family said, without giving any information about the suspected shooter.

The Poway Unified School District in San Diego said that James Holmes graduated from Westview High School in 2006.

Tom Mai, a neighbor of the Holmes family in San Diego, described Holmes as "clean-cut, quiet, responsible."

In the fall of 2006, he entered the University of California, Riverside, graduating with a B.S. in neuroscience in the spring of 2010. "Academically, he was at the top of the top," Chancellor Timothy P. White told reporters Friday.

Holmes was a scholarship student who graduated with highest honors, said White, and had an "obvious intellectual capacity."

The school was offering counseling services to students, faculty and staff.

UCR police have no record of any contact with Holmes, the school said.

CNN's Tom Watkins, Paul Vercammen, Casey Wian and Jim Spellman contributed to this report.

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

MISSOULA- Even though it's business as usual for Missoula's Carmike 12 Theater Friday, some of the moviegoers we spoke with Friday afternoon said watching a movie won't be as relaxing.

Most people in line for "The Dark Knight Rises" Friday said they were a little uneasy about going into a theater, after hearing the news of Friday morning's Colorado theater massacre, when a man entered a screening and started shooting, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 60.

A few Missoulians asked not to appear on camera, but said they never considered being ambushed in a theater, and some worried about bringing their kids to watch the movie.

Some people bought their tickets to the newest Batman movie Thursday night, so while they were a little worried about going inside after hearing about the gunman, they felt it was too late to back out.

"I was really just anxious to get the tickets last night and we got them and we were just excited," said Maria Zepeda while she waited in line. "And I found out this morning and I honestly really not like very excited to see it, because I'm wondering what's going to be going on in my head while it's going on."

When asked if Carmike theaters would start any new security efforts, a Carmike manager said he's not allowed to talk to the media, and a call to the Carmike corporate office in Georgia has not been returned.

(CNN) -- The man suspected of shooting up an Aurora, Colorado movie theater screening the new Batman film early Friday, killing 12 and wounding 59, also left his apartment rigged with traps, police said. A federal law enforcement source said the suspect also had colored his hair red and told police he was "the Joker."

"It's booby trapped with various incindiary and chemical devices and trip wires," Aurora police chief Dan Oates said, adding that it could take days to work through the apartment safely.

Five buildings around suspect James E. Holmes' Aurora apartment were evacuated, Oates said.

Police say Holmes, 24, dressed head-to-toe in protective tactical gear, set off two devices of some kind before spraying the theater with bullets from an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and at least one of two .40-caliber handguns police recovered at the scene.

Oates said investigators are confident that Holmes acted alone.

The shooting unfolded inside a darkened theater packed with Batman fans, some in costume for the premiere of the movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Screaming, panicked moviegoers scrambled to escape from the black-clad gunman, who wore a gas mask and randomly shot as he walked up the theater's steps, witnesses said.

It was a scene "straight out of a horror film," said Chris Ramos, who was inside the theater.

"He was just literally shooting everyone, like hunting season," Ramos said.

Holmes surrendered without resistance within minutes of the first calls from panicked moviegoers reporting a shooting inside the Century 16 theater, Oates said. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, court officials said.

Police officers swarming to the theater encountered bloody, groaning victims streaming out of the theater. Others remained inside, many with gruesome injuries, according to recordings of emergency calls with dispatchers.

Victims flooded overwhelmed hospitals. One of the injured was just three months old, hospital workers said.

"I don't know how else to explain it. It's horrific," said Tracy Lauzon, director of EMS and trauma services at Aurora Medical Center.

Holmes is scheduled to appear in an Arapahoe County, Colorado, courtroom on Monday morning, Rob McCallum, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Department, said Friday. The court file was sealed, according to a court order.

The FBI is assisting in the investigation, officials said.

FBI spokesman Jason Pack said it did not appear the incident was related to terrorism.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the attack was the work of a "very deranged mind."

"Obviously no words can express the intensity of this tragedy," he said.

President Barack Obama canceled campaign events Friday, telling supporters at what had been scheduled as a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, that "there will be other days for politics."

"This will be a day for prayer and reflection," he said, calling for the country to unite as one and support the victims.

"Such violence, such evil is senseless. It is beyond reason," he said before ending the event to return to Washington.

Chaos broke out during the showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 theater when the shooting began, police and witnesses said.

The gunman went to the rear door of the theater and propped it open, then tossed in a canister before starting to shoot, according to a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation.

A federal law enforcement official told CNN the man used tear gas, but Oates said Friday afternoon that it was not clear what the substance was.

Oates said the man was wearing a ballistic helmet and protective gear for his legs, throat and groin, black gloves and a gas mask.

Jennifger Seeger, who survived the attack, said she had seen the man and thought his get-up was part of the entertainment for the film's debut.

She said the man first shot toward the ceiling, then began shooting at people. He reloaded during his attack, she said.

"He was just literally just massacring anybody that got up that was trying to run away," Seeger said.

The smoke smelled like a Fourth of July firework, said CNN iReporter Adam Witt. It took a few gunshots before he figured out what was going on.

"I hit the floor and hid behind the seats in front of me, pulling my wife down to hide with me," Witt said. "It was the longest minute of my life. The gunshots just kept coming. I knew it could be over any second. I knew my wife could be gone any second. It was absolutely surreal. I felt something hit my left arm, and my first thought was, 'At least it's just my arm.'"

"There were so many people running," he said. "I didn't look back. I just remember getting up from the floor and shouting, 'We have to run.'"

Witt said he held his wife's hand as they rushed out of the theater.

"There was a moment where I lost her hand, but I grabbed her shirt," he said. "We didn't let go of each other."

Quentin Caldwell, who was attending a screening in the adjacent theater, said he wasn't sure at first what was going on, despite hearing a "pop, pop, pop, pop" sound.

"We really didn't know something was happening until someone came from the left entrance and said we should not go outside because somebody with a gun was out there," he said.

Armed guards appeared at the theater exit and demanded audience members raise their arms to ensure they were not carrying weapons, then told them to run, Caldwell said.

"Outside was chaos. There was wounded everywhere," he said.

Officers rushed many of the wounded to hospitals in their patrol cars.

Police initially said 14 people had died -- 10 in the theater and four at area hospitals -- but revised the death toll to 12 later Friday morning, according to Aurora Police Lt. Jad Lanigan. The initial injury count of 38 was revised upward to 59 Friday afternoon.

Several people remained in critical condition at area hospitals.

Of the wounded, the University of Colorado Hospital said it had treated 22 people, including nine who were seriously injured. All of the wounded suffered from gunshot wounds, which ranged from minor to critical, spkeswoman Jacque Montgomery said.

The victims being treated there ranged in age from 3 months to 45, the hospital said.

Denver Health Center had six patients from the shooting, one in critical condition and five in fair condition, said Shelly Davis, house supervisor.

Swedish Hospital in Denver was treating three people, two of them in critical condition and one in fair condition. A fourth patient with minor injuries was treated and released, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.

Children's Hospital Colorado said it had treated six adult victims, one of whom died. And Parker Adventist Hospital was treating two people for minor injuries, according to a spokeswoman.

It may take hours or even days to clear Holmes' apartment, Oates said.

Investigators looking into a window with a camera have seen a sophisticated booby-trap with trip wires connecting incendiary and chemical devices, he said.

Oates said he has never seen anything like it.

A woman who lives across the street from where the suspect's apartment said police evacuated her building around 4 a.m.

"They told us there was a bomb or bomb material located in the house across the street from us." Rebecca Bradshaw said.

Law enforcement officers who searched the suspect's apartment found "items of interest," a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation told HLN. He did not elaborate.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents were involved in the apartment search, agency spokesman Tom Mangan said.

In addition to looking into the possibility of explosives, ATF agents also are conducting emergency traces on the weapons to see how they were obtained, Mangan said.

Authorities also searched the suspect's car in the parking lot of the movie theater.

In addition to canceling his Florida campaign appearances, Obama pulled some advertising in Colorado.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney also pulled advertising and issued a statement, saying he and his wife Anne were "deeply saddened by the news of the senseless violence."

Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, said the company and filmmakers were "deeply saddened" to learn of the incident. The studio canceled the movie's Paris premiere, while New York police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said his officers would watch over screenings of "The Dark Knight" to prevent copycat shootings.

The National Theater Owners Association said in a statement that its members would be reviewing security procedures in the wake of the shooting.

The movie theater where the shooting took place has not been the site of any security incidents, said Timothy Warner, CEO of Cinemark Theaters, which owns the complex.

"You know, obviously you know, the person made a well-organized ... and had an assault weapon that would probably overpower any security that we would've had," he said. "I mean, this is obviously a very deranged gunman that had access to very high powerful weapons."

Aurora, a Denver suburb, is about 13 miles from Littleton, Colorado -- site of the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

In that incident, two teenage students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, armed themselves with guns and bombs and opened fire inside the high school. They killed 13 people and wounded 23 others before killing themselves.

CNN's Carol Cratty, Mike Brooks, Ed Payne, Joe Sterling, Tina Burnside, Mike Brooks, Chelsea Carter, Melissa Abbey and Jim Spellman contributed to this report.

^TM & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

(CNN) -- A heavily armed gunman attacked an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater early Friday, tossing tear gas before opening fire on the terrified audience and killing 12 and wounding 38, authorities said. The theater was showing the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."

One of the injured was just 3 months old, hospital workers said.

The shooting unfolded inside a darkened theater packed with Batman fans, some in costume for the movie's premiere. Screaming, panicked moviegoers scrambled to escape from the black-clad gunman, who wore a gas mask and randomly shot as he walked up the theater's steps, witnesses said.

Police officers swarming to the theater encountered bloody, groaning victims streaming out of the theater. Others remained inside, many with gruesome injuries, according to recordings of emergency calls with dispatchers.

Victims flooded overwhelmed hospitals.

"I don't know how else to explain it, it's horrific," said Tracy Lauzon, director of EMS and trauma services at Aurora Medical Center.

The shooter was identified by two federal law enforcement officers as James Holmes, 24, of Aurora. He had at least four guns -- an "AK type" rifle, a shotgun and two handguns, a federal law enforcement official told CNN. The official also said the shooter used tear gas.

After the suspect told police there was a bomb at his apartment, officers went there and found a "very sophisticated" booby trap inside, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates told reporters.

Police arrested the man shortly after the shooting ended in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN.

"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said. It was unclear where law enforcement found a second handgun.

The suspect was tentatively scheduled to appear in a Colorado courtroom on Monday, although no formal charges have been filed, according to the Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator.

Oates said there was no evidence of a second gunman, and FBI spokesman Jason Pack said it did not appear the incident was related to terrorism.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper issued a statement saying the shooting was "not only an act of extreme violence, it is also an act of depravity."

"It is beyond the power of words to fully express our sorrow this morning," he said.

President Barack Obama canceled campaign events Friday, telling supporters at what had been scheduled as a rally in Forty Myers, Florida, that "there will be other days for politics."

"This will be a day for prayer and reflection," he said, calling for the country to unite as one and support the victims.

"Such violence, such evil is senseless. It is beyond reason," he said before ending the event to return to Washington.

Chaos broke out during the showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 theater when the shooting began, police and witnesses said.

The gunman went to the rear door of the theater and propped it open, then tossed a canister before starting to shoot, according to a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation.

A federal law enforcement official told CNN the man used tear gas.

One moviegoer, who was not identified, told KUSA the gunman was wearing a gas mask.

Some people in the audience thought the thick smoke and gunfire were a special effect accompanying the movie, police and witnesses said.

The smoke smelled like a Fourth of July firework, said CNN iReporter Adam Witt. It took a few gunshots before he figured out what was going on.

"I hit the floor and hid behind the seats in front of me, pulling my wife down to hide with me," Witt said. "It was the longest minute of my life. The gunshots just kept coming. I knew it could be over any second. I knew my wife could be gone any second. It was absolutely surreal. I felt something hit my left arm, and my first thought was, 'At least it's just my arm.'"

"There were so many people running," he said. "I didn't look back. I just remember getting up from the floor and shouting, 'We have to run.'"

Witt said he held his wife's hand as they rushed out of the theater.

"There was a moment where I lost her hand, but I grabbed her shirt," he said. "We didn't let go of each other."

Quentin Caldwell, who was attending a screening in the adjacent theater, said he wasn't sure at first what was going on, despite hearing a "pop, pop, pop, pop" sound.

"We really didn't know something was happening until someone came from the left entrance and said we should not go outside because somebody with a gun was out there," he said.

Armed guards appeared at the theater exit and demanded audience members raise their arms to ensure they were not carrying weapons, then told them to run, Caldwell said.

"Outside was chaos. There was wounded everywhere," he said.

Cell phone video taken by someone at the theater showed scores of people screaming and fleeing the building. Some had blood on their clothes.

A police officer carried a girl believed to be about 9 with gunshot wounds to her back out of the theater, a witness said. "She wasn't moving."

Officers rushed many of the wounded to hospitals in their patrol cars.

Authorities also evacuated the suspect's Aurora apartment building after he made a statement about explosives in his unit, Oates said.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents went to his home to search for explosives, agency spokesman Tom Mangan said.

Law enforcement officers who searched the suspect's apartment found "items of interest," a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation told HLN. He did not elaborate.

A woman who lives across the street from where the suspect is believed to live said police evacuated her building around 4 a.m.

"They told us there was a bomb or bomb material located in the house across the street from us." Rebecca Bradshaw said.

In addition to looking into the possibility of explosives, ATF agents also are conducting emergency traces on the weapons to see how they were obtained, Mangan said.

Authorities also searched the suspect's car in the parking lot of the movie theater.

Police initially said 14 people had died -- 10 in the theater and four at area hospitals -- but revised the death toll to 12 later Friday morning, according to Aurora Police Lt. Jad Lanigan.

Several people remained in critical condition at area hospitals.

Of the wounded, at least 20 were being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. All of the wounded suffered from gunshot wounds, which ranged from minor to critical, she said.

"They're arriving by police, by ambulance. Some are walking in," she said.

The victims being treated there ranged in age from 3 months to 45, the hospital said.

Denver Health Center had six patients from the shooting, one in critical condition and five in fair condition, said Shelly Davis, house supervisor.

Swedish Health Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams said her hospital was treating three people, two of them in critical condition and one in fair condition. A fourth patient with minor injuries was treated and released, she said.

Parker Adventist Hospital was treating two people for minor injuries, according to a spokeswoman.

Hundreds of police officers descended on the theater, and the FBI has joined the investigation.

"We were calling for help from every police and fire agency," Fania said.

Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, said the company and filmmakers were "deeply saddened" to learn of the incident. The studio canceled the movie's Paris premiere, while New York police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said his officers would watch over screenings of "The Dark Knight" to prevent copycat shootings.

In addition to canceling his Florida campaign appearances, Obama pulled some advertising in Colorado.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney also pulled advertising and issued a statement, saying he and his wife Anne were "deeply saddened by the news of the senseless violence."

The movie theater where the shooting took place has not been the site of any security incidents, said Timothy Warner, CEO of Cinemark Theaters, which owns the complex.

"You know, obviously you know, the person made a well-organized ... and had an assault weapon that would probably overpower any security that we would've had," he said. "I mean, this is obviously a very deranged gunman that had access to very high powerful weapons."

Aurora, a Denver suburb, is about 13 miles from Littleton, Colorado -- site of the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

In that incident, two teenage students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, armed themselves with guns and bombs and opened fire inside the high school. They killed 13 people and wounded 23 others before killing themselves.

CNN's Carol Cratty, Mike Brooks, Ed Payne, Joe Sterling, Tina Burnside, Mike Brooks, Melissa Abbey and Jim Spellman contributed to this report.

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(CNN) -- It was a dark theater, playing a movie that includes gunshots, in the middle of the night. So when a gunman burst through an exit door, threw a gas can into the crowd and began shooting, many inside the Aurora, Colorado, theater didn't realize what was happening.

"I think we were 15 minutes in, and there was a chase scene where there was gunfire on screen," said witness Quentin Caldwell. "And right then out of nowhere on the right side of us we hear a very distinct 'pop pop pop pop.'"

His wife jumped, Caldwell said, but "I kind of sat there, thought it was probably just really good special sound effects."

But soon other patrons of the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," the new Batman movie, began to say that there was a shooter in the theater -- and Caldwell saw people wounded.

One young couple was holding a bleeding woman by her face and guiding her down the stairs, Caldwell said. "I looked to my right and another gentleman is holding his stomach and running down the stairs trying to get out of there."

Even after he left the theater, some people stayed behind not understanding what happened and thinking the movie might continue, Caldwell said. "I looked at them like, 'This is real, there's something wrong, we need to leave now.' "

Adam Witt told CNN he and his wife had been looking forward to seeing the movie for months.

"The first thing I noticed was a hissing sound coming from the left side of the theater. I noticed people beginning to react in the area. I knew something was wrong," he said in an iReport.

"Then the gunshots began. A sudden flash of light and loud bang from the right side of the screen. Then another, and another. There must have been 20-30, at the least. At first glance they looked like fireworks or something, perhaps a prank."

But he soon realized what was happening.

"I hit the floor and hid behind the seats in front of me, pulling my wife down to hide with me. It was the longest minute of my life. The gunshots just kept coming. I knew it could be over any second. I knew my wife could be gone any second. It was absolutely surreal. I felt something hit my left arm, and my first thought was 'at least it's just my arm.'"

When the gunfire subsided people took to the exits en mass, he said. "I took my wife by the hand and we booked it for the back door, trying to breathe through the gas that now permeated the room."

The area was filled with people screaming -- in some cases, for their children, he said.

"The entire ordeal was completely surreal, and entirely horrifying."

Jennifer Seeger, who was also in Theater 9 at the Century Aurora 16 multiplex, said the shooter lit a gas can and threw it into the crowd, then shot the ceiling to scare everyone.

"They just started scattering, and mass chaos just happened," she told CNN affiliate KCNC-TV in Denver.

"I was terrified so I just dove into the aisle. And at that point he started shooting people behind me." Burning bullet fragments ended up on her forehead, she said. "I just told myself: 'I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here.' "

Trey Freeman, another witness, said the shooter threw a second gas canister. "He looked so calm when he did it, it was so scary," Freeman said in a YouTube video.

Witnesses described the man as dressed in black with a gas mask and bulletproof vest.

When the gunman began shooting, "I thought there was no way I was going to get out of there without getting shot," Freeman said.

In the rush to leave, some people were stepped on or pushed, Derek Poag told CNN.

Outside the theater, it was chaotic, with wounded people everywhere, Caldwell said. He saw one girl in a pink hoodie, her left side peppered with wounds.

Cell phone video taken outside the doors of the theater complex showed panicked moviegoers calling out for help or searching for friends.

One man can be seen walking out with assistance, the back of his shirt covered in blood. A woman examines her body, as if checking for wounds.

Alex Milano was in the next theater over that was also showing the Batman film.

He also said there was a shooting scene happening on screen when the sound of real bullets was heard nearby.

"Loud bangs came from the right of the theater. Smoke took over the entire theater, and it was really thick and no one could really see anything," he said.

Confused at first, Milano realized the severity of the incident when he witnessed "objects" starting to come through the wall, presumably bullets.

"I saw holes in the wall," he said.

Some people in his theater started moaning in pain, and alarms at the building started sounding.

Outside, Milano spoke with a woman who was inside Theater 9. What she heard "sounded like madness to me," he said.

One scene stuck in his head -- a police officer carrying a little girl in his arms. The girl wasn't moving.

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(CNN) -- A heavily armed gunman tossed tear gas into the darkness of an Aurora, Colorado movie theater Friday and then sprayed the audience with gunfire during an early morning screening of the new Batman movie, killing 12 and wounding 38 others, authorities said.

One of the injured was just 3 months old, according to hospital workers.

Police arrested a man believed to be the shooter in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman, told CNN. The suspect was not immediately identified. Police said he was a man in his 20s from Aurora.

"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said.

Oates said there was no evidence of a second gunman, and FBI spokesman Jason Pack said it did not appear the incident was related to terrorism.

President Barack Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama were "shocked and saddened" by the shooting and pledged the administration's support for victims of the shooting.

"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family," it said.

Chaos broke out during the showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 theater when the shooting began, police and witnesses said.

Police said the gunman "appeared" in the front of the theater and threw a smoke bomb before opening fire. A federal law enforcement official told CNN the smoke bomb described by witnesses was tear gas. It was unclear how the man got into the theater, but witnesses told CNN affiliate KUSA that he came in through an emergency door.

One movie-goer, who was not identified, told KUSA the gunman was wearing a gas mask.

Some people in the audience thought the thick smoke and gunfire was a special effect accompanying the movie, police and witnesses said.

"We just heard a pop, pop, pop, pop," said Quentin Caldwell, who was attending the Batman showing in an adjacent theater.

Cell phone video taken by someone at the theater showed scores of people screaming and fleeing the building. Some had blood on their clothes.

One police officer carried a girl believed to be about 9 with gunshot wounds to her back out of the theater, a witness said. "She wasn't moving."

Officers rushed many of the wounded to hospitals in their patrol cars.

Authorities also have evacuated the suspect's Aurora apartment building after "he made a statement about explosives" in his unit, Oates said.

The shooter used at least four guns -- an "AK type" rifle, a shotgun and two handguns, the federal law enforcement official told CNN.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents have searched the suspect's car and went to his home to search for explosives, agency spokesman Tom Mangan said.

Law-enforcement officers who searched the the suspect's apartment found "items of interest," a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation told HLN. He did not elaborate.

A woman who lives across the street from where the suspect is believed to live said her building had been evacuated by police around 4 a.m.

"They told us there was a bomb or bomb material located in the house across the street from us." Rebecca Bradshaw said.

In addition to looking into the possibilty of explosives, ATF agents also are conducting emergency traces on the weapons used to see how they were obtained, Mangan said.

Police initially said 14 people had died -- 10 in the theater and four at area hospitals, but revised the death toll to 12 later Friday morning, according to Lanigan.

Several people remained in critical condition at area hospitals, however.

Of the wounded, at least 20 were being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. All of the wounded suffered from gunshot wounds, which ranged from minor to critical, she said.

"They're arriving by police, by ambulance. Some are walking in," she said.

The victims being treated there ranged in age from 3 months to 45, the hospital said.

Denver Health Center had six patients from the shooting, one of them in critical condition, five in fair, said Shelly Davis, house supervisor.

Swedish Health Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams said her hospital was treating three people, two of them in critical and one in fair condition. A fourth patient was on the way, she said.

Parker Adventist Hospital was treating two people for minor injuries, according to a spokeswoman.

Hundreds of police officers descended on the theater, and the FBI has joined the investigation.

"We were calling for help from every police and fire agency," Fania said.

Aurora, a Denver suburb, is about 13 miles from Littleton, Colorado -- site of the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

In that incident, two teenage students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, armed themselves with guns and bombs and opened fire inside the high school. They killed 13 people and wounding 23 others before killing themselves.

Are you there? Share your story with us on CNN iReport.

CNN's Ed Payne, Joe Sterling, Tina Burnside, Mike Brooks and Jim Spellman contributed to this report.

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