Massacre erupts during midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Reports so far indicate 50 gunshot victims, 12 fatalities. Update!

Courtesy of Mercury News:  

About 50 people were shot — 12 fatally — early Friday when a gunman opened fire at an Aurora movie theater during a premiere showing of the new Batman movie. 

A 24-year-old man in is custody and an apartment building in north Aurora connected to the suspect was being evacuated and searched for possible explosives, according to Police Chief Dan Oates. 

Several federal sources identified the suspect as James Holmes, NBC reported. 

Ten people died at the scene and two others died at hospitals. Many of the injured were critically injured. 

Around 12:39 a.m., police received multiple reports of the shooting at the theater complex, located at 14300 E. Alameda Ave., and arrived minutes later, according to Aurora police. 

Police say the suspect "appeared" at the front of one of the theaters showing "The Dark Knight Rises." Witnesses told The Post he entered through an emergency exit at the right front of the Theater 9 less than 10 minutes into the film. 

The suspect then threw some type of explosive and started shooting into the packed theater. 

The man had a rifle, a handgun and a gas mask when police arrested him. At this time, police have no evidence that there are any additional suspects involved in the shooting. 

The bodies of the 10 people who died at the theater remain at the scene while police continue to investigate. Police previously stated that 14 people were killed.

This is still a breaking story so details are still coming in. They have identified the suspect however.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

The young man who is in custody after allegedly gunning down 12 people in a mass shooting spree overnight in Aurora, Colorado has been identified as local resident James Holmes, according to federal authorities. 

A San Diego woman who identified herself as James Holmes' mother told ABC News she had awoken unaware of the shooting and had not yet been contacted by authorities. She immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved. 

"You have the right person," she said, apparently speaking on gut instinct. "I need to call the police... I need to fly out to Colorado." 

Local news reports showed aerial video of police cautiously searching Holmes' apartment, some five miles from the Century Aurora 16 theater, as the suspect reportedly told police he had explosives inside.

There are reports that this guy may have been dressed up to resemble the character of "Bane" in the movie, but that is mostly speculation at this point.

What is not speculation is that this lunatic had access to multiple assault weapons, at least one tear gas grenade, and possibly a houseful of explosives.  Without those items he would have been a fairly harmless kook,

But hey, let's not forget to defend our 2nd amendments rights.  These days there is nothing more important than those.

Update: Apparently this individual has booby trapped his home.

I have heard of the possible Tea Party affiliation, but right now I am  waiting for further confirmation before giving it too much credence.

Update 2: The killer was not channeling the character Bane, he thought he was the Joker:

 According to police sources, Holmes told the officers arresting him that he was "The Joker," referring to the villain in the second installment of the Batman movie trilogy, "The Dark Knight." He also warned police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, leading officers to evacuate the Aurora apartment building.