019 – Where was the shooter taken and when?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update to my ongoing analysis of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012. I know as a reader you may be getting a little bogged down in the minute by minute analysis and unsure of where it might all be going. The good news is, we do not have a lot more to cover on the police and fire analysis and then we will move into a new stage with what happened in the days following the shooting. For now I want to focus a bit more on the continuing search for multiple suspects and discovery of secondary devices. At the conclusion of this post we will also be left with some confusion over where the suspect James Holmes was taken and when. Again, all of this is foundational to the events that are revealed in the days following the shooting.

For the sake of cutting to the most important pieces of information I’m going to truncate the police and fire dispatch a bit and only focus on key time markers.

July 20, 2012 1:39 am

At 1:39 am a Jefferson County officer advises police dispatch that bomb sniffing dog is en-route to the scene.

July 20, 2012 1:40 am

By 1:40 am, according to police traffic, members of the media are starting to poke around behind the east side of the theater.

July 20, 2012 1:41 am

At approximately 1:41 am Aurora Mall Command calls into truck two, the truck assigned to inside the theater and says, “I need a confirmation that all the people within the theater are black.” 

Truck two responds, “Confirmed. All ten people in the theater are black.”

Aurora Mall responds, “So you need no assistance up there at this time.” 

Truck two confirms. “No assistance needed.”

Police will begin rounding up media and taking them to the command post at the north of the theater.

July 20, 2012, 1:42 am

At 1:42 am, Metro 11 calls in, presumably from one of the local hospitals, “Metro 11, be sure everyone knows we have 13 patients here and a doctor says that a bomb went off somewhere so….[unintelligible]….explosives.”

At this point we suspect at least one of the gas canisters that exploded is believed to have caused shrapnel and a huge gaping wound on a victim it exploded by.  At this point it may be possible that the “bomb” reported by doctors could be nothing more than one of the gas canisters.  In any case, a doctor seems to be confirming an explosive of some kind caused the damage.

July 20, 2012, 1:43 am

By 1:43 am the Aurora PD and FD scanners have been available online all night and by now thousands of people are actively listening to to the live audio stream.

Police dispatch is reporting that Lakewood is unable to patch Blue SE channels with local Aurora channels as had previously been requested.

At 1:43 am, an officer breaks in sounding as if he is responding to something we haven’t heard for some reason, “..yeah..since we have this open door at the mall, we probably want to set up a perimeter around the…uh…west side of the mall so we’re gonna need cars to go secure that west side just in case there is somebody inside…we don’t want them to break out that west side without anybody seeing them or catching them.”

Police dispatch then starts informing officers of other general entrances to the mall and the officer responds that yeah, it’s a big project.

July 20, 2012, 1:44 am

At 1:44 am, police dispatch is calling all available officers who are not working at the theater or dealing with witnesses to help secure the entrances to the west side of the mall.

July 20, 2012, 1:45 am

At 1:45 am, the police helicopter unit known as Air One reports they are just leaving the nearby city of Centennial.  Police dispatch reports Air One’s estimated time of arrival at the shooting scene is five minutes. 

July 20, 2012 1:47 am

At 1:47 am Aurora Mall Command issues orders to shut down the Dillard’s division and return them to normal service because the city is stripped of proper support.

July 20, 2012 1:48 am

At 1:48 am an officer breaks in, “Uh…is there anybody who has the movie’s theater personnel with them to try to get this alarm shut off? 

King seven responds that he has the general manager with him.

Dispatch responds a few moments later adding, “…to shut off the alarm they’ll need the cell phone that’s inside the business…or he’ll have to access an electrical panel.”

July 20, 2012 1:49 am

At 1:49 am, a report from an officer at the scene comes in over the air about a vehicle and a suspicious device object inside.   Previous to this we have not heard any transmissions about this, “….it’s gonna be a Hyundai Accent, Tennessee plates zero seven four victor paul david…it’s third to the west directly in front of the doors.”

Dispatch asks what color the vehicle is.

The response is, “uh…it’s charcoal color…it’s possible that it’s just a thermos but it’s covered up so it’s hard to tell.”

Dispatch responds, “Copy…Possible device in the vehicle….third to the left directly in front of the doors…. a charcoal colored Hyundai Accent, Tennessee plate…I’ll run that right now for you.”

For a short while after the shooting news reports were suggesting that James Holmes’ vehicle had Tennessee plates and this led to a lot of early questions and confusion.  It is likely that THIS vehicle being reported here (one charcoal in color) is the Hyundai “suspect” vehicle that news reports confused for James Holmes vehicle early on.

July 20, 2012 1:50 am

At 1:50 am, truck two is still inside the theater working on turning off the theater alarms.

Police dispatch is reporting that all entrances to the mall have been covered and they are starting a search.

Metro 26 with the police is reporting he’s inside the theater and is trying to locate the phone to shut off the alarms.

July 20, 2012, 1:51 am

At 1:51 am, Adam 201 will report in, “201 Adam…I transported a victim and then the suspect…it is at district two.” His voice sounds low, matter of fact, even cold.

This is a very interesting transmission. 

Both a victim and a suspect have been transported, and if the wording is accurate, the victim was first transported and THEN the suspect.  Is this suspect James Holmes?  You may recall that that District 2 of Aurora is literally a block away from the theater where the shooting took place. I want you to stop again for a moment and digest that fact. Who on earth plans a mass shooting right across from a police station? Wouldn’t there be a better location? Also, it should be recalled that off duty police routinely provided security at the theater on weekends and therefore there were literally police on scene the moment the shooting began.

Based on this transmission, is it possible then, the suspect and victim have BOTH been transported to the police station?  Could this be the victim found “shot” in a white kia from earlier transmission? Or could it be the officer took a victim to a hospital and then the turned around and transported the suspect to district two?

Also, “official reports” say James Holmes was taken to the Arapahoe County Detention center in Centennial, the nearby city to the south from where Air One is called.  Again, if this suspect is James Holmes, he is not yet at Arapahoe County Detention but rather appears to be in a police holding area in District two of Aurora.  Of course it is also possible this is a different suspect as well, maybe one fleeing the back of the theater nearly a half hour after the shooting?

Why did the officer say “it” in reference to the suspect and not “he.”?  Would “it” suggest a dead body? Is it possible the officer inadvertently tipped us off that there is a dead suspect and victim somewhere in district two? The transmission is suspicious to say the least.