The Dark Knight Rises was one of the most anticipated movies of the year, but the midnight premiere ended in a devastating tragedy at a Colorado theater in Aurora. According to CNN, a heavily armed gunman entered the theater through the emergency exit about 30 minutes into the showing of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. During a scene the featured gun shots, the man in black, outfitted with a gas mask, started randomly shooting at people as he walked up and down the stairs at the stadium seating theater.

The man tossed tear gas into the audience before he opened fire. His bullets killed 12 and wounded 38 of the Batman fans. One of the injured was a 3 month old baby. According to KTLA Entertainment News, The Dark Knight Rises is an incredibly dark movie. The character development on the sinister villains may have been a motivation behind this killer’s madness. He used at least four guns in the theatre, an AK type rifle, a shotgun, and two handguns. The police arrested a man believed to be the killer in the back parking lot of the theatre after the fiasco. The 24-year-old had blood splattered all over his shirt. He didn’t resist arrest, but was seized with guns in hand.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in court today, though no formal charges have been filed yet. The FBI does not believe that the man’s attack was related to terrorism. Instead, they assume that he was motivated to attack because of his fetish with supervillians and their bold, brash actions. He may have been trying to imitate the supervillian Bane who is featured in the Batman movie. Police suspect that this may be why he chose a gas mask and black as parts of his costume. He also used the mask to protect himself from the tear gas. The Colorado governor issued a statement saying that the shooting was not only an act of extreme violence but one of extreme depravity. The man will most likely receive the death sentence or a lifetime in prison for his actions.

President Barack Obama spoke out about the incident, saying that he was shocked and saddened. According to eyewitness accounts, some of the men and women watching the movie thought that the smoke and loud bullet sounds were merely added special effects for the midnight showing. The movie, which was highly anticipated, is full of dark violence and gunshots. One witness told the press that he didn’t know what was going on until chaos broke out. He then stood up and screamed “we have to run” as the hundreds of guests tried to escape the theater.

A person at an adjacent theater who was also watching the movie said that he heard the “pop pop pop” of the guns. He didn’t know what was going on until a theater worker rushed into the screening and requested that viewers evacuate the building. Armed guards appeared at the theater in no time and requested that all attendees raise their arms as they exit the theater to make sure that they weren’t carrying weapons. The police carried many of the wounded to the hospital in their patrol cars. One police officer recounts carrying a 9-year-old girl out of the theatre. Her back was punctured with bullet holes and she was unresponsive.

Warner Brothers, the company that created the violent and highly anticipated movie, says that they are deeply saddened by the event. The studio cancelled the movie’s Paris premiere which was scheduled for July 20^th, 2012. Many theaters are employing police officers to guard the entrances and exits during the movie to make sure that copycat instances don’t occur.