12 dead, 59 injured in Batman shooting
AURORA, Colo., July 20 (UPI) -- A black-clad gunman burst into a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday, killing 12 people and wounding 59 others in Aurora, Colo.
Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates told a late-morning news conference the gunman, identified as James Eagan Holmes, 24, threw two devices into the theater, waited for them to ignite and then started shooting indiscriminately.
Oates said the suspect, dressed in black body armor, was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a 20-gauge Remington shotgun and a .40-caliber Glock. A second Glock was found in his car, a white Hyundai parked at the back of the theater.
"We are not looking for any other suspects. We are confident he acted alone," Oates said.
The movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," was showing in four of the theaters at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center and each of the showings was sold out, Oates said.
Oates said 200 witnesses had been interviewed so far. Police were on the scene within 90 seconds of the first call to 911, received at 12:39 a.m. MDT, he said.
Holmes was arrested without incident immediately after police arrived, Oates said.
"We will be here for some time," Oats said, adding there was no initial estimate on how many rounds had been fired but there was a massive amount of evidence inside the theater.
Oates refused to speculate on the reason behind the shooting or how the suspect got into the theater beyond saying his car was parked at the door.
Of the 71 people hit, 10 died at the scene and two at hospitals, 16 were reported in critical condition and one of those hit was in an adjoining theater, Oates said. The shooting took place in theater No. 9 at the movieplex.
Holmes, who grew up in San Diego, received a speeding ticket last October in Aurora and that was the extent of previous police contact with him, Oates said.
Oates said the apartment building where Holmes lived in Aurora and surrounding buildings had been evacuated. Investigators found incendiary and chemical booby traps inside his apartment and were trying to determine how to deal with them.
President Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff to honor the victims.
FBI didn't investigate Hasan after e-mails
WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- FBI agents didn't investigate Army Maj. Nidal Hasan before a Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage despite his e-mail contact with a terrorist, an FBI review said.
The two-year review, led by former FBI Director William Webster, concluded FBI agents' mistakes were unintentional and they should not be held responsible or punished for failing to prevent the November 2009 shootings, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The review found FBI agents on the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force were aware Hasan had contacted known terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen numerous times before the Fort Hood shootings and discussed the killing of civilians. But the review said the FBI agents did not bring the e-mails to the attention of the Defense Department.
In one e-mail, Hasan, an American-born Muslim, discussed suicide bombers and whether it would be permissible for "the killing of innocents for a valuable target."
Al-Awlaki, an American Muslim from New Mexico, was killed in 2011 in a U.S.-launched drone strike. He had moved to Yemen and become an al-Qaida operative.
The review said an FBI field office in Washington determined Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who had served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was not involved in terrorist activities.
4 killed, 36 injured in Egypt bus accident
HURGHADA, Egypt, July 20 (UPI) -- A tour bus traveling in Egypt's Red Sea region overturned Friday morning, killing four and injuring 36, officials said.
The bus was driving on the Ras Gharib-Hurghada highway near the Red Sea when it overturned, the Egypt Independent reported.
Four of the 36 injured were foreigners, officials said. All of those injured were taken to Hurghada Public Hospital, with those in critical condition transferred to other hospitals.
The cause of the incident was not reported.
The governor of the Red Sea region, Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Assem, asked prosecutors in Hurghada to take statements from the injured and to give permission for burial of the dead, the report said.
Bulgaria bus blast linked to Hezbollah
BURGAS, Bulgaria, July 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama talked by phone with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov Friday about this week's deadly terror attack in Burgas, the White House said.
Obama expressed his condolences to the prime minister.
"The president reiterated his condemnation of the barbaric attack," the White House statement said. "He offered his support for the ongoing investigation, and for the Bulgarian people in this challenging time.
U.S. officials say the suicide bomber who killed six people, including five Israeli tourists, on a bus Wednesday appeared to have been a member of Hezbollah.
The New York Times said a source who wished not to be identified while the investigation was under way said it appeared the bomber was in Bulgaria looking for opportunities to attack Israeli targets.
Bulgaria is a popular vacation spot for Israelis and Burgas is on the Black Sea, the BBC said.
The Times source said it appeared the militant group received guidance from Iran, the group's primary sponsor. The newspaper said two other U.S. officials confirmed Hezbollah was behind the bombing.
An official said it appeared the bombing was in retaliation for the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, which Iran alleges were committed by Israeli agents.
Bachmann alleges Muslim Brotherhood ties
WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., accused Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., of having ties with the Muslim brotherhood.
Bachmann told a Thursday interview with conservative TV and radio host Glenn Beck she stands behind her earlier statements about Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood through relatives and accused her Minnesota colleague of having similar ties, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Friday.
"He has a long record of being associated with (the Council on American–Islamic Relations) and with the Muslim Brotherhood," Bachmann said of Ellison.
Ellison told the Huffington Post there is no basis for Bachmann's accusations.
"I am not now, nor have I ever been, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., denounced Bachmann's calls for investigations into Muslim Brotherhood "influence operations" on the floor of the Senate Wednesday and House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday Bachmann's allegations are "dangerous."
