The US has begun mourning after 12 people were killed and 59 wounded in a shooting at a midnight showing of the new Batman film, the Dark Knight Rises.

US President Barack Obama ordered flags flown at half mast and said the day was “for prayer and reflection”.

A man wearing a gas mask and body armour threw tear gas canisters at movie-goers in Aurora, Colorado, then fired on the crowd, witnesses said.

James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema near Denver, police said.

He was said to be armed with a rifle, a shotgun and two pistols. All were bought legally within the last few months, US media reported.

In New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who said he had been briefed on the case, said the suspect had dyed his hair red and had told police he was the Joker, Batman’s infamous nemesis.

“It clearly looks like a deranged individual,” Mr Kelly said.

Cinemas in New York tightened security at Batman showings following the attack, and the French premiere of the film in Paris was cancelled.

Mr Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from a doctoral programme in neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Denver, a university spokeswoman told the Associated Press.

Authorities have established no terrorism link, nor any motive. Mr Holmes had no criminal record in Aurora – his only encounter with police there was a traffic ticket.

Mr Holmes’ 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.”

On Friday afternoon, police were still working to identify the dead, 10 of whose bodies still lay inside the cinema.

One woman known to have been killed was Jessica Ghawi, also known as Jessica Redfield, an aspiring broadcaster and a prolific blogger.

In June, Ms 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.

Special effects?

After the shooting, police said that – acting on information from the suspect – they had discovered that his home in the north of Aurora had been booby-trapped. Incendiary devices with chemical elements and trip wires were in the flat, police said.

“We have an active and difficult scene there,” said Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates, who added it could be hours or days before the apartment was cleared.

UPDATE: Officials say they have “significantly reduced” the threat from bombs and booby traps at the Colorado home of the man suspected of shooting dead 12 people at a Batman film screening. Robots were initially used but agents still have to enter without setting off any remaining devices.

The attack began minutes into the showing at about 00:30 local time (06:30 GMT), when the gunman apparently entered the cinema through an emergency exit door near the front of the auditorium.

The gunman wore a bullet-proof vest, tactical body armour and gloves, and was carrying an AR-15 military-style, semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and two pistols, police said.

Survivors said they initially thought the gunman was somehow part of the show.

The gunman, whom witnesses said had said nothing during the attack, 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.

Scores of people, some in a critical condition, were taken to four hospitals.

The casualties included a four-month-old baby, who was released from hospital after treatment, and a six-year-old child.

For more on this story go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18935153

Witnesses describe terror as gunman opens fire in Colorado cinema

Jennifer Seeger, 25, from Aurora said she was in the second row, about four feet from the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face.

At first, “I was just a deer in headlights. I didn’t know what to do,” she said. Then she ducked to the ground.

The gunman shot people seated behind her.

“There were bullet (casings) just falling on my head. They were burning my forehead,” Seeger said.

The gunman fired steadily except when he stopped to reload.

“Every few seconds it was just ‘Boom, boom, boom,’” she said.

“He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed,” she said.

Seeger said she began crawling toward an exit when she saw a girl about 14 years old, “lying lifeless on the stairs.”

She saw a man with a bullet wound in his back and tried to check his pulse, but “I had to go. I was going to get shot.”

“I thought it was showmanship. I didn’t think it was real,” she said.

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Sylvana Guillen, 20, said when a man appeared at the front of the theater clad in dark clothing looking like a SWAT team member as Catwoman made an appearance in the movie, the audience “thought it was a joke, a hoax.”

Then they heard gunshots and smelled smoke from a canister he was carrying, and Guillen knew it was real.

The gunman began walking toward the seats and firing. Guillen said she told her friend, Misha Mostashiry, “You better get ready to be shot.”

Mostashiry, also 20, said they couldn’t tell where the gunman was.

“All you could do is hope he didn’t come for you,” she said.

“We ran to the emergency exit and nothing happened. Nothing happened to us,” Mostashiry said, with surprise and relief in her voice.

On their dash to the exit, they saw a man slip in the blood of a wounded woman he was trying to help.

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Tanner Coon told the NBC “Today” show he was at the movie with a friend and his friend’s 12-year-old brother when about 20 minutes into the movie the gunman appeared. Coon said that when they realized they were being shot at, they got on the floor in front of their seats.

After “a period of quiet” everyone started to run out.

He said he went to a row behind him and “slipped on some blood and landed” on a woman. He said he shook her, telling her they needed to get out, but she was unresponsive and he “presumed she was dead.” He said the 12-year-old was “freaking out” and “really upset” after they escaped the theater.

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Jaime Marshall, 23, said she had tickets to theater 9, where the gunman opened fire, but had decided before the movie to watch next door in theater 8 with friends.

She said that about 20 minutes in, as a shooting scene played out on the screen, she heard “fire cracker” sounds, and thought someone might be playing a joke. Marshall said people started leaving en masse and the alarm system started blaring. Marshall said she and her friends just sat there confused until someone ran in and told people not to go into the lobby because “someone’s shooting people out there.”

She said she wasn’t sure if it was a prank, but the group decided to leave. Marshall said that as she made her way out of the theater, she saw a girl with a gunshot wound to her leg.

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Moviegoer William Kent told CBS “This Morning” he was in theater 8, next door to the theater where the shooting happened.

“There was a lot going on in the soundtrack of the movie at that time. So in the beginning, I don’t think people realized what was happening,” he said.

Kent said he saw pieces of the wall fall out, apparently as shots came through, and the emergency alarm went off. The theater told people to leave.

“There was huge commotion to get out of the theater and when I exited, there were police with assault rifles running in.”

“I went out to enjoy a movie and I ended up in a gruesome thing. I don’t know how you would qualify it. I think it seems like a terrorist act.”

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Nichole Griek said her 13- and 14-year-old daughters were in the theater when they saw a man dressed in black and wearing a mask step out of the shadows at the front of the theater. They thought he was part of the movie presentation, before he threw out a canister that started smoking and opened fire.

Griek’s daughters and their friends bolted from the theater, leaving behind their cellphones, shoes and other belongings. Griek’s daughters were unhurt.

“You’d think you’d be able to drop your kid off at the movie theaters, but you can’t,” she said.

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Chandler Brannon tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” he was in the theater with his girlfriend when he saw smoke and heard popping sounds that he at first believed were fireworks.

When he realized they were gunshots, Brannon said he and his girlfriend and others ducked. He said he and his girlfriend played dead as what sounded like 50 to 70 shots were fired.

He said that because of the smoke, he didn’t get a good look at the shooter but saw a silhouette of a person with a gun.

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