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Report: Aurora gunman had hair painted red, said he was The Joker

Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
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New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters during a noon press conference that the suspected shooter in the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre was dressed as The Joker.

“We have some information, most of it is public. It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red, he said he was ‘The Joker,’ obviously the ‘enemy’ of Batman,” Kelly said.

The gunman is reportedly James Holmes, 24, from San Diego, Calif., who recently moved to the area to get his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Colorado at Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus, the Washington Post reports. Holmes reportedly dropped out of school in June. The university sent ABC News this photo of Holmes:

Witnesses told police that Holmes was dressed as a SWAT team member in a gas mask and bulletproof vest when he entered through an emergency exit of the theater, dropped two canisters of an unknown gas and opened fire. The shooter was reportedly armed with a shotgun, 9mm handgun, AK47 and a knife. At least 12 people are dead and 50 are wounded after the shooting.

Holmes was arrested in the parking lot of the movie theater without resistance. He reportedly told police that he had explosives in his home.

FBI and Aurora police said that Holmes’ apartment is “booby trapped” with explosives and that it could take “hours” or “days” to disarm the bombs, the Denver Post reported Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates as saying. The area around the apartment, which is five miles from the scene of the shooting, has been evacuated.