CENTENNIAL (COLORADO): Colorado prosecutors charged James Holmes on Monday with 140 counts of murder or attempted murder, including 12 of first-degree murder for each fatality in the Aurora cinema shooting.Holmes, 24, was also slapped with one count of possession of an explosive device , and one sentence enhancement count.
Twelve people were killed and 58 were wounded after a gunman burst into a sold-out midnight viewing of the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises" , and began shooting people at random.
Holmes faces one count of first degree murder for each victim in addition to a second charge of "murder by depraved indifference" . He also faces 116 attempted murder charges. Prosecutors have said it will be several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to seek the death penalty. Only one person has been executed in Colorado since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
Holmes gained access to the movie theater via a fire exit shortly after the start of the film on July 20 and threw two canisters of noxious gas into the auditorium, witnesses and police said. After firing into the air with a pump-action shotgun, he allegedly began shooting people with a military-style assault rifle.
Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
