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Kate Middleton and Princes William and Harry had a wizard Harry Potter experience today as they attended the inauguration of the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, UK.
The highlights of their visit include a trip to the Great Hall, a special effects demonstration on Diagon Alley and even a wand lesson in The Gryffindor Common Room.
Kate Middleton, who is due to give birth in July, wore a short £38 ($59) polka dot dress by TOPSHOP and black suede heels with a black Ralph Lauren jacket pushed up at the sleeves.
The trio have brought with them to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, 500 guests, both children and adults, associated with some of the charities they support.
The royal party were first shown props and costumes from the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. Princes William and Harry were clearly taken with a camouflaged Batmobile known as the Tumbler.
Prince William turned to his brother and whispered: “We should borrow that for the weekend.” He then climbed inside and turned on the engine, revving it to within an inch of its life.
When Prince William finally emerged from the Batmobile after a long while he said: “I’m a very happy man” but when he spotted his wife the royal apologized saying: “Sorry, sorry.”
Clearly a fan, the future king then couldn’t resist climbing on board the Bat Bike and posing for the cameras as Harry looked on enviously. Both brothers own their own superbikes – but clearly nothing on this level.
The three royals also spent time examining Batman’s heavy rubber armor.
“Is this really what the actor wore, how heavy is it?” Prince William asked.
He was astonished to discover it took 25 minutes for actor Christian Bale to put on.
Kate Middleton joined Princes William and Harry for a wizard day out at the Harry Potter film studios
The royals headed over to a “green screen” where draftsman Ed Symon was seated on another model of the Batpod motorbike sited on top of a “six axis motion base”. It was originally built for the broomstick flying in Harry Potter movies.
John Richardson special effects supervisor on the movies, said: “We’ve had everyone on it from Harry Potter to Voldemort.”
There, Prince William took to the controls of the simulator making the Batpod move up and around as if it was flying.
The visit will culminate with them hosting a most unusual meeting for their Charities Forum in the Great Hall, one of the original sets from the Harry Potter film series.
The Charities Forum is a collection of charities, of which The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are Patrons.
Started in 2006, it provides a platform for collaborative activity between the 35 participating charities and organizations who meet twice a year to discuss ideas and ways to support each other.
During the first part of today’s Studio tour, Kate Middleton and Princes William and Harry also met some of the creative teams from recent Warner Bros. Productions and were given an insight into the film making process as well as being shown some of the props and costumes from those films.
Warner Bros.’ £100 million ($160 million) facility, the first of its kind to be built in the UK in 70 years, accounts for a third of the dedicated major feature film production stage space in the UK.
It is the only film studio in the country to be owned and operated by a major Hollywood studio.
Formerly the production home of all eight Harry Potter films, Goldeneye, Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, the state-of-the-art studios now encompass nine sound stages, a 100 acre back-lot and one of the largest underwater filming tanks in Europe. It is available to all kinds of productions, not just Warner Bros., from commercials to music videos, TV shows to feature films.
The first production to shoot there since the redevelopment was All You Need Is Kill, directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter takes guests behind the scenes of the Harry Potter films and showcases the incredible British talent, creativity and artistry that went into bringing the series to life.
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Dr. Lynne Fenton, the psychiatrist who had treated James Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 in Colorado cinema massacre, had before warned police he was a danger to the public.
Dr. Lynne Fenton told police of threatening text messages James Holmes sent after he stopped attending counseling, newly released court documents show.
James Holmes, 25, is charged with multiple counts of murder in the attack during a premier of a Batman film at Aurora theatre.
Prosecutors have rejected a guilty plea and seek the death penalty.
The trial had been scheduled for August, but a judge has pushed it back to February 2014.
Dr Lynne Fenton told police of threatening text messages James Holmes sent after he stopped attending counseling
In an affidavit taken after the shooting and unsealed on Thursday, University of Colorado Denver police Officer Lynn Whitten told investigators that Dr. Lynne Fenton had contacted her in June.
Dr. Lynne Fenton was following a legal requirement to report a specific threat to authorities, according to the document.
Lynn Whitten said the psychiatrist was making the report “due to homicidal statements [James Holmes] had made” and that Dr. Lynne Fenton said he sent threatening text messages to her after he stopped attending counseling sessions.
James Holmes was a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Denver but was withdrawing from his studies after failing a key exam.
Previous reports said Dr. Lynne Fenton had told campus authorities about James Holmes, but not that she had made a report of specific threats.
A warrant also unsealed on Thursday described a package sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton before the massacre, apparently by James Holmes. It included a brown notebook labeled “Of Life” that officials believe to be a journal, as well as partially burned $20 bills.
The documents were previously sealed, but a new judge overseeing the case ordered them released following requests from media organizations.
Separately, Judge William Sylvester has removed himself from the case after prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty.
Judge William Sylvester said the move meant the case would take up so much time that he could not carry out his administrative duties as chief judge of a busy four-county district.
District Judge Carlos Samour took over the case on Monday.
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James Holmes, the suspect gunman at Aurora cinema, has been formally charged with 142 criminal counts in one of America’s worst mass shootings.
James Holmes, 24, faces 24 counts of murder, two for each of the 12 people killed, and 116 counts of attempted murder, two each for the 58 injured.
For each person killed he faces a count of murder with deliberation and one of murder with extreme indifference.
If convicted, James Holmes could face the death penalty.
James Holmes, the suspect gunman at Aurora cinema, has been formally charged with 142 criminal counts in one of America's worst mass shootings
James Holmes opened fire at random in a crowded movie theatre showing Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora near Denver on 20 July, according to the authorities.
The judge had banned cameras from Monday’s hearing, so there were no pictures of the defendant, who appeared dazed during his first court appearance last week.
James Holmes was reportedly quiet and unemotional during the hearing. At times, he appeared to be trying to focus his eyes.
Denver Post reporter John Ingold tweeted that the accused appeared “not quite engaged, but listening”.
When asked if he approved a delay in his bail hearing, the defendant leaned towards his lawyer and appeared to say “okay”, and then said “yes” quietly to the judge.
Survivors of the shooting and family members of those killed attended the hearing.
Several wore Batman shirts, including Don Lader, who was in the eighth row of the theatre when the shooting began. He told CNN he had seen the movie twice since that day.
Among the counts on the prosecutors’ sheet, James Holmes faces a gun charge and another of possessing an explosive or incendiary device.
James Holmes allegedly wired his apartment with enough explosives to destroy the entire building had they been detonated. It took authorities several days to dismantle the booby traps.
Court documents filed on Friday by defense lawyers said the suspect had been under the care of a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado Denver, where he had been in the process of dropping out as a neuroscience PhD student.
Monday’s hearing was also expected to address a package – discovered in a campus mailroom three days after the shootings – which the suspect addressed to that psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton.
The package reportedly contained descriptions of an attack, including drawings of a stick-figure gunman shooting people.
The defense team is seeking a court order requiring prosecutors to immediately turn over all evidence relating to the seizure of a package, citing doctor-patient privilege.
They have also lodged a motion to find out who leaked the existence of the package to the media, which they say could jeopardize the suspect’s right to a fair trial.
Prosecutors have said it will be several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to seek the death penalty in the case.
As of Sunday, 10 victims of the 20 July shooting remained in hospital, four of them in a critical condition.
Ashley Moser, the critically injured mother of a six-year-old girl killed in the rampage in Aurora, has suffered a miscarriage, her family said on Saturday.
James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people in a shooting at a Batman film screening in Aurora, Colorado, has appeared in court for the first time.
James Holmes, 24, sat in court in a red jail suit with dyed orange hair, and appeared sleepy during the proceedings.
Nine of 58 people wounded by the gunman remain in critical condition.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama met survivors and families of the dead as hundreds of people took part in a service of remembrance.
James Holmes is to be held without bail at a jail in Centennial, Colorado, the judge said.
He is accused of throwing two canisters of gas into a busy midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises before firing at random at the crowd. Witnesses say he was wearing full body armour during the attack.
It is reported that a semi-automatic rifle jammed during the attack and the gunman switched to a weapon with less firepower, possibly saving some lives.
James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people in a shooting at Batman film screening in Aurora, has appeared in court for the first time
James Holmes was being held in solitary confinement. Police say he is not co-operating with them.
The dead include a six-year-old girl and two US military servicemen.
James Holmes appeared in court at 09:30 local time for the first stage in a process likely to see him face at least 12 counts of first-degree murder. He could face further charges of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Prosecutors are to formally file charges on 30 July.
One prosecutor has warned it could take at least a year before James Holmes stands trial, the AP reported.
The office of prosecutor Carol Chambers is considering whether to press for the death penalty for James Holmes, a decision that will be made in consultation with the victims’ families, she said.
On Monday morning uniformed police were stationed outside the court house, and deputies were patrolling the roofs of court buildings.
President Barack Obama said that when he visited Aurora on Sunday he had shared hugs and tears, but also laughter as the families recounted the lives of their loved ones.
He added that he visited as much as a father and husband as a president, and that Aurora was in the nation’s thoughts.
Barack Obama said: “I confessed to them words were inadequate but my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and say we are thinking about them at this moment each and every day.”
Both President Barack Obama and his Republican Party challenger, Mitt Romney, curtailed their election campaigns in the wake of the Aurora attack, dropping advertising in Colorado state out of respect for victims and their families.
Meanwhile, residents have been laying flowers at a memorial site near the Century cinema and thousands of people have been participating in vigils outside City Hall.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told the crowd on Sunday: “While our hearts are broken, our community is not.”
On Saturday police managed to gain access to James Holmes’ flat, which had been laid with booby traps connected to explosives that could have killed someone entering through the door.
The FBI is now collecting evidence, and investigators say a computer found inside his home could provide crucial details.
Several US media outlets have reported that a Batman mask and poster were in the flat, but police have not confirmed this.
Police said the suspect had acted with “calculation and deliberation”, adding that he had been stockpiling ammunition for months.
Over the course of eight weeks he bought 6,300 rounds of ammunition: 3,000 for a .233 semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, 3,000 for two .40 Glock 22 pistols and 300 cartridges for a pump-action shotgun.
James Holmes bought the four weapons legally.
Authorities say the suspect is not linked to terror groups and have not established a motive for the attack. James Holmes had no criminal record other than a speeding fine.
James Holmes grew up in San Diego and was pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver. School officials have said that he recently left the programme.
Names of the dead in Aurora cinema shooting:
• Jessica Ghawi, 24
• Veronica Moser, 6
• John Larimer, 27
• Alexander Boik, 18
• Jesse Childress, 29
• Jonathan Blunk, 26
• Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32
• Alex Sullivan, 27
• Gordon Cowden, 51
• Micayla Medek, 23
• Alexander Teves, 24
• Matthew McQuinn, 27 (presumptively identified, awaiting confirmation)
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Newly released Batman film The Dark Knight Rises made an estimated $160 million at US and Canadian box offices in its opening weekend, a record for a non 3-D film.
But the blockbuster’s takings were below industry forecasts made before the mass shooting at a midnight showing of the film in Colorado on Friday.
Projected figures suggested the film would make an estimated $173 million, based on Friday receipts.
Twelve people were killed and 58 hurt in the attack at a cinema in Aurora.
The Dark Knight Rises made an estimated $160 million at US and Canadian box offices in its opening weekend
The top two highest-ever openings were both 3-D films – The Avengers with $207 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169 million.
“For this film (Dark Knight) to still be in the rarefied air of the top-three openings of all time is phenomenal, given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the release of this film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst for Hollywood.com.
Following the shooting, US cinemas tightened security and Warner Bros scaled down its promotional plans.
A movie premiere in Paris was cancelled, along with personal appearances by the cast and crew in Japan and Mexico.
“My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act,” Anne Hathaway said in a statement.
“I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”
The third and final film in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman series stars Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway. It cost Warner Bros $250 million to make.
Studios including Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros publicly withdrew their usual official revenue reports out of respect for the victims and their families, but sources gave details of the takings to media outlets.
Last week’s number one, Ice Age: Continental Drift, dropped to second place, with The Amazing Spider-Man in third.
Seth MacFarlane’s R-rated comedy Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg opposite a foul-mouthed CGI teddy bear, is in fourth spot, while Disney animation Brave is at number five.
Colorado police have entered the flat of James Holmes, the man suspected of shooting dead 12 people at a Batman film screening, and dismantled an incendiary device.
Police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson said officers had “defeated the first threat” by disarming a trip-wire and an incendiary device.
Cassidee Carlson warned there were other devices, and bomb squad personnel later set off a small explosion at the building.
Some 58 people were also hurt in the attack at a Century 16 cinema in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Colorado police have entered the flat of James Holmes, the man suspected of shooting dead 12 people at a Batman film screening
A man in a gas mask and body armor threw tear gas canisters at a midnight screening, then fired on the crowd in the cinema.
James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema, police said.
FBI agents and police discovered his flat was booby-trapped when they used a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside.
Technicians made a first attempt on Friday to disarm the traps, believed to include explosives, but withdrew when it became clear the property was too dangerous to enter.
Sgt. Cassidee Carlson said the device was set up to detonate when the first person entered the flat.
“We’ve defeated first threat. It was set up to kill, and that could have been police officers or anything,” she said.
“There are other devices inside, I’m not going into detail about what those devices are.”
Earlier, Aurora police chief Dan Oates said the apartment contained “things that look like mortar rounds”, adding: “I’ve personally never seen anything like what we’ve found in there.”
Residents were evacuated from the building and four other premises nearby.
Firefighters are monitoring the block of flats for gases in an effort to identify what chemicals might have been used in the booby-traps.
Hundreds of mourners joined a vigil near the cinema in Aurora on Friday night, leaving candles and flowers outside.
James Holmes was said to be armed with a rifle, a shotgun and two pistols when he launched his assault on the midnight screening of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.
He also bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the internet, Dan Oates said.
All weapons and ammunition were purchased legally within the past few months, he said.
Thirty people remained in hospital, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said, with 11 of those in a critical condition.
Authorities have established no terrorism link, nor any motive, and James Holmes had no criminal record other than a speeding fine.
James Holmes will appear at Arapahoe County District Court, in nearby Centennial, Colorado, on Monday at 09:30 local time.
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New reports give details about James Holmes, the psychotic gunman who killed 12 people at a screening of the new Batman film on Thursday night.
James Holmes, 24, was a PhD student who was described as “really smart” but was in the process of dropping out of graduate school at the University of Colorado Denver.
He is said to have had few friends and barely any social life, instead spending hours indoors playing the video game Guitar Hero.
Police are currently baffled as to Holmes’s motives for launching the deadly attack which injured 71 people as they watched blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises at a midnight showing in Aurora, a suburb of Denver.
However, one clue may come in a report that the killer, whose family comes from San Diego, had dyed his hair red and described himself as “the Joker”, implying that he was inspired by the popular Batman series itself.
Although James Holmes described himself as “easy-going”, neighbors and classmates recalled an anti-social recluse who had little contact with others.
Officials do not currently believe that the gunman had terror links, adding to the mystery of his possible motives.
“It clearly looks like a deranged individual,” NYPD police chief Ray Kelly said.
“He had his hair painted red. He said he was <<The Joker>>, obviously the enemy of Batman.”
A neighbor also reported that police, who were searching James Holmes’s apartment for explosives, asked him if he had seen “a white guy with crazy hair, possibly dyed unnatural colors”, the Denver Post said.
But neighbors at university housing in Denver described James Holmes as a recluse who kept himself to himself. One student said: “No one knew him. No one.”
James Holmes was a PhD student who was described as “really smart” but was in the process of dropping out of graduate school at the University of Colorado Denver
James Holmes – who had been working towards his PhD for a year before dropping out – had one techno song blaring from his stereo in the hours before the massacre and left the music on repeat in his booby-trapped apartment as he departed to commit the massacre.
He was also reportedly addicted to video game Guitar Hero.
His shocked mother in San Diego confirmed that he was behind the massacre, telling reporters: “You’ve got the right man.”
After graduating from Westview High School in 2006, James Holmes studied neuroscience at the University of California Riverside, where he graduated with honors.
Neighbors in California said that James Holmes moved to Colorado to attend graduate school after failing to find a job.
The university said he was dropping out because of academic issues, and had not had any disciplinary problems.
The gunman described himself as “quiet and easy-going” in a rental application last year, and high school classmates confirmed that impression in interviews with the Los Angeles Times.
Dan Kim, currently a student at UC San Diego, said: “He didn’t seem like a troublemaker at all. He just seemed like he wanted to get in and out, and go to college.”
James Holmes ran in Westview’s cross country team with Tori Burton, who said: “He was very quiet. He was a nice guy when you did occasionally talk to him. But he was definitely more introverted.”
Another classmate, Keith Goodwin, spoke of his shock at seeing the “generally pleasant” young man hit the news for his role in the massacre.
“James was certainly not someone I would have ever imagined shooting somebody,” said Keith Goodwin.
James Holmes has only ever had contact with police over a traffic violation, according to the New York Times, who spoke to two law-enforcement officials about the gunman.
“He’s not on anybody’s radar screen,” said one official, while the other added: “This guy is somewhat of an enigma. Nobody knows anything about him.”
The killer’s family appealed for privacy as they described their anguish at seeing James Holmes involved in massacre.
“Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved,” they said in a statement released by San Diego police.
“We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time.
“Our family is cooperating with authorities in both San Diego, California and Aurora, Colorado. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy.”
Jackie Mitchell, a furniture mover who lives several blocks from the suspect’s apartment building in Colorado, said he had drinks with James Holmes at a local bar on Tuesday night, though he gave no sign of being distressed or violent.
After James Holmes approached him “we just talked about football. He had a backpack and geeky glasses and seemed like a real intelligent guy, and I figured he was one of the college students,” Jackie Mitchell said.
When Jackie Mitchell saw James Holmes’s photo after the shooting, “the hair stood up on my back,” he said.
“I know this guy.”
Another neighbor, Rachel Reed, said she met James Holmes in a local bar when she put rap music by Lil Wayne on the jukebox.
He came over and “made some racially charged comments about rap,” she said. “He seemed like he was a normal dude. He was a little buzzed.”
James Holmes is not talking to police and has asked for a lawyer, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
His first court appearance is set for Monday morning at 9.30.
US begin to mourn the 12 people killed by a gunman at a showing of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, and a candlelit vigil has been held in Aurora, Colorado.
US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half mast.
A man in a gas mask and body armour threw tear gas canisters at a midnight screening, then fired on the crowd, killing 12 and injuring 58.
Suspect James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema, police said.
He will appear at Arapahoe County District Court, in nearby Centennial, Colorado, on Monday at 09:30 local time.
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Aurora for the vigil.
Candles and flowers were left on the lawn. One letter read: “To all the innocent souls… This is for you. We will never forget. This is Aurora.”
At the Queen of Peace Roman Catholic church, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila told mourners: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The heart of our Father is stronger than the bullets that killed 12 people.”
In a briefing at the end of the day in Colorado, an emotional Governor John Hickenlooper confirmed that the casualty figure had been revised down one, to 70 people killed or injured.
Thirty people remained in hospital, John Hickenlooper said, with 11 of those in a critical condition.
“It’s an act that defies description. Everyone I’ve talked to all day is filled with an anger that can’t find focus,” he said.
Aurora police chief Dan Oates said the attempt to defuse complex booby-traps, explosive devices and “things that look like mortar rounds” at James Holmes’s home had been abandoned for the night, with federal government experts due to arrive on Saturday.
“I’ve personally never seen anything like what we’ve found in there,” the police chief said.
Suspect James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema
James Holmes was said to be armed with a rifle, a shotgun and two pistols when he launched his assault. All weapons and ammunition were bought legally within the past few months, Dan Oates said.
Authorities have established no terrorism link, nor any motive, and James Holmes had no criminal record in Aurora.
In New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the suspect had dyed his hair red and told police he was the Joker, Batman‘s infamous nemesis.
Cinemas in that city tightened security at Batman showings following the attack, and the French premiere of the film in Paris was cancelled.
The film’s director, Christopher Nolan, issued a statement expressing his horror.
“The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me,” Christopher Nolan said.
“Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.”
Despite a strong past academic record, James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from a doctoral programme in neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Denver.
One neighbor told Agence France-Presse that James Holmes “was always wearing camouflage pants”, adding: “We did not know him well because he talked to nobody. He was always locked up behind his door.”
His family said in a written statement: “Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
Police have given no indication of the names of the dead, the last of whose bodies was removed from the cinema at about 17:00 on Friday.
One woman known to have been killed was Jessica Ghawi, also known as Jessica Redfield, an aspiring broadcaster and a regular blogger.
In June, Jessica Ghawi, 24, narrowly missed being caught in a shooting rampage in Toronto, leaving the scene five minutes before a man opened fire at the Eaton Centre shopping mall.
The attack began minutes into the showing at about 00:30 local time, when the gunman apparently entered the cinema through an emergency exit door near the front of the auditorium.
Reports said the attacker had a ticket but left the cinema, pretending to receive a phone call, before returning fully armed.
He wore a bullet-proof vest, tactical body armor and gloves, and was carrying an AR-15 military-style, semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and two pistols, police said.
He threw two tear gas grenades, then opened fire with a rifle. There was chaos as movie-goers fled, some dressed in costume as heroes and villains.
Ten people were killed at the cinema and two others died later in hospital of their wounds. Among the injured were a four-month-old baby, who was released from hospital after treatment, and a six-year-old child.
One witness said the gunman had been “slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing – picking random people”. At least one person in an adjacent auditorium was injured when a bullet went through the wall, police said.
Another eyewitness, identified only as Pam, said: “He fired a canister into the air. It shot right into the air, then I started to hear the bang, bang, bang of a gun.”
Salina Jordan, 19, told the Denver Post she had seen one girl shot in the cheek, and a girl who appeared to be about nine years old with a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Informed of the massacre at dawn, President Barack Obama spoke briefly to a campaign rally before returning to the White House to address the situation.
“There are going to be other days for politics,” he said.
“This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.”
Cinema shooting suspect:
• James Holmes, 24, was a former neuroscience PhD student at University of Colorado-Denver
• Attended high school in San Diego, California, where his parents still live
• He lived in an apartment in north of Aurora, about five miles from the cinema
• Only previous brush with the law was a summons for speeding in October 2011
Colorado gun laws:
• Residents allowed to keep guns in homes, offices and vehicles, but can only carry them in public with a permit
• There are no limits to how many guns can be bought a month, and the state permits sale of automatic weapons
• No waiting period for buying a handgun, both state and federal state law requires criminal background checks
• Since 1998 Columbine massacre, 20 miles from scene of Friday’s shooting, it has become easier to buy guns in US – a national ban on assault weapons sale expired in 2004
The Paris premiere of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has been cancelled following a shooting at a midnight screening in Colorado, US.
At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured in the attack in Denver, Colorado on Thursday night.
Witnesses said a man wearing a gas mask opened fire as movie-goers watched the film.
The Paris premiere of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has been cancelled following a shooting at a midnight screening in Colorado
In a statement film studio Warner Bros. said they were “deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident”.
“We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time,” the statement said.
As well as the cancellation of the red carpet premiere on the Champs-Elysees, the Hollywood Reporter reported that media interviews with the director, Christoper Nolan, and the film’s cast have also been cancelled.
The Paris premiere was due to take place on Friday.
At least 14 people have been killed in a shooting at Batman film The Dark Knight Rises premiere in Denver, Colorado, police say.
About 50 people have been injured in the incident, police say.
Witnesses say a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire at the cinema complex in Aurora, at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
There are reports the gunman released a smoke bomb during the incident. Police say they have one suspect in custody. Many ambulances are at the scene.
A gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire at the cinema complex in Aurora, at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises
The Swedish Medical Center, not the area’s main hospital, said it had received three gunshot victims.
A witness told 9News that during a shooting scene in the film he heard loud bangs and a lot of smoke and initially thought they were live special effects put on by the cinema.
Projectiles came through the wall from the neighbouring theatre screening, the witness said.
CNN quoted one witness saying: “A guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing – picking random people.”
