Batman shooting suspect appears in court

Wearing a maroon jump suit and bright orange, curly hair, the 24-year-old looked as if he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Holmes is accused of throwing two gas canisters and then opening fire on the audience of a midnight screening of the new Batman film in the Aurora suburb of Denver, Colorado.

Twelve people died and almost sixty were injured, nine of whom are still in a critical condition. US President Barack Obama visited the victims of the gun attack on Sunday and the town also held a vigil to remember the 12 people shot dead.

Mr Holmes will be held without bail at a jail in Centennial, Colorado. He is currently being held in solitary confinement, and police said he was not being cooperative.

The Colorado prosecutor said the decision on whether a death penalty would be sought for the cinema shooting suspect is “months down the line”.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said she would consult with the victims and families of the dead before deciding whether to seek the death penalty. The ultimate decision has to be made within 60 days of his arraignment.

Read more: From neuroscience graduate to mass murder Joker?

The nation’s sympathy

Behind closed doors in the Denver suburb of Aurora, where Friday’s massacre happened, President Obama met one by one with families gathered at a hospital and patients recovering in intensive care. He offered hugs, tears and the nation’s sympathy to survivors of the Colorado shooting rampage and to families whose loved ones who were killed.

“I come to them not so much as president as I do as a father and as a husband,” Obama told reporters after his visits.

“The reason stories like this have such an impact on us is because we could all understand what it would be to have somebody we love taken from us in this fashion.”

Obama met with the family members at the University of Colorado Hospital, which treated 23 of the people injured in the mass shooting; 10 remain there.

Mourners also gathered at Aurora municipal centre on Sunday for a vigil. Obama described the gathering as “an opportunity for everybody to come together,” adding “I hope all those in attendance understand that the entire country will be there in prayer and reflection today.”

The president also said the “perpetrator” of the massacre would feel “the full force of our justice system.