By Zanub Saeed
The man identified in the Colorado "The Dark Knight Rises" massacre on Thursday evening was identified as 24-year-old Denver native James Holmes, ABC News announced.
The revelation came when a woman who identified herself as Holmes' mother told ABC News that it was her son and that "You have the right person."
The woman, who called the network from her home in San Diego, further stated, ""I need to call the police... I need to fly out to Colorado," she told ABC News.
Holmes went into a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" on Thursday night at a theater in the town of Aurora, Colo., and began shooting patrons, killing 12 and injuring 50, Colorado police and local press confirmed. He first threw a gas canister into the theater and then began to shoot with a rifle and handguns during the start of the third "Batman" movie by Christopher Nolan.
"We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant," witness Christ Jones told ABC's Denver affiliate KMGH. "I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two."
A man who talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, "They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people."
"The gunshot continued to go on and on and then after we didn't hear anything," the couple told the man. "We finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere."
Warner Bros. was scheduled to have a red carpet premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Paris on Friday, but canceled the star-studded event due to the events in Colorado. Press junkets and television appearances that were set to take place with director Nolan and stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, and Marion Cotillard, including a press conference at Paris' hotel Le Bristol, reported MSNBC on Friday.
Warner Bros stated: "Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are 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."
