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CNN Saturday Morning News

Coverage of Shootings in Aurora, Colorado; Vigils Held at Scene of Massacre; Treating the Wounded

Aired July 21, 2012 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 9:00 in the East, 6:00 a.m. in the West, and 7:00 a.m. right here in Aurora, Colorado, where we continue to learn new details this morning about the mass shooting that happened here early Friday morning.

Among those new details are the names of some of the victims. Take a look here. This is 23-year-old Micayla Medek. It took her family 19 hours to learn that she had died in the shooting. It's a similar story with so many of these families, so much waiting.

The full list of names is expected to be out as early as 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time this morning morning. In all, 12 people were killed, 58 others injured. As many as 11 of those people are in critical condition this morning.

And now, take a look at this. I want to show you another picture. It comes from the adult sex Web site, adultfriendfinder. Police believe that this photo is James Holmes, the suspect in this shooting, but investigators haven't been able to confirm it yet. Sources did say that Holmes had dyed his hair red before the attack.

Our Poppy Harlow is at James Holmes' apartment building for us this morning.

And, Poppy, you spoke just a short time ago with law enforcement that are back on the scene there this morning. What have they told you now about what they have found inside that apartment?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, a lot of new details. And this comes from a law enforcement official here on site, right at Holmes' apartment, as you see behind me, here in Aurora.

What the official told me is that the devices in the apartment are what he calls victim-initiated devices. This means that booby-traps would set them off. He described them as being, quote, "unique," saying, you normally don't see this. He did tell me that there are no timers believed t be attacked to any of the explosive devices. That is very good news.

Investigators believe from the robots that they have sent inside, Randi, and the video that those robots have taken that there are at least a dozen explosive devices. Robots may go in today again to gather more video, possibly some sampling of the devices. But what really stood out to me is that I am told by this law enforcement official that they believe that these devices were rigged with things that would accelerate the damage, if they were detonated. Black powder. What they believe to be a liquid accelerant.

I was told by them that he placed other chemicals to enhance the fire or the thermal effect, if these IEDs went off. And that's the big concern. What also stood out to me is that I was told that these were set up with a, quote, "level of expertise." That this was not, quote, "crude," as you often see in a situation like this. That, obviously, that there was knowledge putting this together and a lot of time and energy and effort and some expertise put into this -- Randi.

KAYE: And it seems as though, Poppy, the way he apparently had his apartment rigged, that he was targeting the first responders. Those who would show up first on the scene there.

HARLOW: That is exactly right. Because as that law enforcement official told me, these were victim-rigged devices. Meaning, booby- traps. That they would be set off by someone going in, not by a timer, but rather by someone -- I don't know if it's stepping on something because we don't have any video to the public inside there, we haven't been in there, but, yes, that they were rigged for that.

Interestingly, though, we wouldn't have known, Randi, about all of this set up in the apartment, had it not been for the suspected shooter telling police officers when they arrested him in the parking lot of the movie theater that, indeed, he had explosives in his apartment.

I'll tell you, because of the magnitude of this, Randi, chemists were flown in from Washington, D.C. The ATF brought in some of their bomb techs from out of state. There are also explosive ordinance and disposal officials on site, Randi. So experts from across the country here to deal, assess the situation. Unclear whether they're going to send more robots in or if they are going to go in with, you know, men and women in bomb suits today. Could be a few hours, could be longer than that.

KAYE: Right. And the timing, of course, is critical. Of course they want to get in there, but they have to take such precautions, right? I mean I'd assume they're planning to -- they've already evacuated the buildings, but they'll have to shut down that area as well.

HARLOW: I mean, absolutely. I keep reiterating, I'm surprised that we're this close. Obviously, there's no timer, so they feel that we're safe at this point. We're just a few hundred feet away. If they were to detonate something, they're not going to know the magnitude of what that explosion would be. They would -- I assume, clear out this entire area, close this road down.

You know, you've got some residences, a lot of apartment buildings nearby, five have been evacuated. But the 7-Eleven just down the road where we went earlier this morning is open and operating so, obviously, it would be a dramatic shift here. But I just don't think they're at that point yet. They're assessing. I've seen two men so far go inside the building, but we have not seen anyone gear up in bomb suits yet. I think they may take more video, Randi, to take a look and get all of the specifics down before they decide how to act.

KAYE: Poppy Harlow, thank you for getting that information for us. We'll continue to update our folks at home on the scene there at the apartment building throughout the morning.

Let me bring in now Jim Spellman. He's been here at the theater along with many folks overnight.

First, your take, Jim. I mean, you live here. Tell me what your sense is of how the community is dealing with this.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People made a makeshift memorial, and they made a big sign that said, "Gone, not forgotten." And I think a lot of people are trying to stay focused on the victims, but you can't help but try to make sense of what was going on, allegedly, with this person.

Hearing all that detail from Poppy, clearly, there were two lives going on. He's studying neuroscience for a Ph.D. I spoke with a man who had drunk beer with him at the neighborhood bar just on Tuesday and said he was just a regular guy, kind of a nerdy guy, hang out, they talked about sports, the normal stuff.

But then in his apartment, he's rigging up, you know, allegedly rigging up these bombs over the last 60 days, buying his handguns, buying these weapons, and buying these ammunition. It's so incongruence, this bright student, called amongst the brightest of the bright by the chancellor of the University of California.

KAYE: And a recluse, too, right. I mean he kept to himself.

SPELLMAN: Kept to himself, lived by himself, a little bit odd of a grad student, living in a somewhat rundown neighborhood. People tell me so much stuff that doesn't add up here. So I think people are trying to, you know, assess everything, like everybody is, but knowing that here in the community, they're going to have to find a way to work through it and move on.

I think this vigil that they're putting together for Sunday night will really help, an opportunity for everybody to come together and kind of be, you know, a community again.

KAYE: Yes. Well, this is a community that has done this before, sadly. They know how to pull it together, right? I mean they come together --

SPELLMAN: Yes, after Columbine, I mean, this community really came together and I think that really have tried to kind of turn that into a positive and draw strength and energy from it. When every year when the anniversary comes, it's almost more of a celebration than it is a mourning, you know?

And I think that people will tap into that same -- that same strength again. Unfortunately, you're never going to have answers to why, why us, why here again?

KAYE: Yes.

SPELLMAN: Why did this happen? But you know they can find strength with each other.

KAYE: What about the wait for these families? I mean have you had a chance to speak with any of them? You've spent so much time here at the theater. I mean some of them waited 19 hours. The bodies weren't removed from the theater until late yesterday evening.

SPELLMAN: Yes. And some families were going from hospital to hospital trying to get information --

KAYE: Just trying to find out, right?

SPELLMAN: Again, but the police, the coroners, I mean, it's such a chaotic scene inside the theater to go through and process everything and be sure that they were making correct identifications. I know they worked as fast as they could, while trying to be sure that they build the case they need to build.

We should know within the next hour or so all the names of the people.

KAYE: Right.

SPELLMAN: We now know that all the family members have been notified.

KAYE: 10:00 a.m. Eastern, I think we should get that final list. Jim Spellman, thank you. We'll check back in with you throughout the morning here in Aurora, Colorado.

So the suspect's in custody, of course, we know that, but he hasn't been formally charged. I'm going to talk with our law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, about the next steps in this investigation when we return live from Aurora, Colorado.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Hospitals in and around Aurora, Colorado, are now dealing with an influx of shooting victims. More than 50 people were hit with bullets during Friday's massacre. And we have with us one of the nurses who is treating some of these patients, was actually at the hospital as these patients came in.

Bill Vause is joining us now.

Good morning to you.

BILL VAUSE, MEDICAL CENTER OF AURORA: Good morning.

KAYE: First describe some of the injuries that you saw these patients came to the Medical Center of Aurora yesterday.

VAUSE: OK. We saw -- as a level 2 trauma center, we frequently see people who are victims of violence. This is a little bit more than normal. We saw people with shrapnel wounds to their arms, legs, gunshot wounds to the head, to the --

KAYE: To the head?

VAUSE: Yes. Things like that.

KAYE: And how -- was it a chaotic situation? I mean as they came in, I mean, obviously it wasn't -- it wasn't expected, it never is, but --

VAUSE: No, it wasn't expected, but you know, actually it was very calm and quiet. Everybody came in, did exactly what they were supposed to do. We were able to get additional help there very quickly. Patients were able to get to the operating room very quickly, got an additional trauma surgeons that came in, and I was very impressed to how quickly thing went and how well it ran. I was very impressed.

KAYE: How critical or how many of the patients were critical?

VAUSE: Of the ones we saw, I believe we admitted four that were considered in critical condition.

KAYE: And in terms of age, I mean there were some reports that there was one victim as young as 4 months old? I mean how young were you seeing in terms of those who you treated?

VAUSE: The youngest that we saw was about 17 years of age. And I think the oldest was in their mid to upper 20s.

KAYE: And in terms of the types of injuries, I mean, how do you treat them?

VAUSE: Generally speaking, it's stabilization. So it's stabilize their airway, control the bleeding, go ahead and get volume resuscitation on going, then something for pain. Try to determine who needed to go to the operating room first. Our trauma surgeon who was in house started trying to sort patients out, decided who needed to go immediately to the operating room. She took the first patient to the operating room and then additional trauma surgeons came in and tried decide who needed to be next and so on. It went very smoothly.

KAYE: How coherent were they? I mean were they able -- or some of them able to speak? Were they talking about what happened?

VAUSE: There were -- there were several patients who are awake and talking and kind -- they were still in shock about what was going on, so they would tell little pieces of the puzzle, but they're just so in shock as to what happened.

KAYE: And what do you say to them? I mean how do you as a nurse try and calm them from something so tragic?

VAUSE: Well, I think the first key is to actually let them get it out, talk to them. So usually we kind of talk to them and tell them we're there to help them, what can we do, and they'll just start talking and just allow them to talk as much as they want to get it off their chest. KAYE: Were there family members there as well trying to find their loved ones? I mean so many of them were so frantic trying to find out what happened.

VAUSE: We had lots of family members who came looking for family, some that we had, some we did not. The ones that we didn't have, we were able to refer them to appropriate places or tell them where if we knew. We were also able to refer back to the police if we couldn't know where they were.

KAYE: And how are those patients doing today at your hospital? Are they in the clear?

VAUSE: No. There are some who are still very injured and who require some time in the hospital. We were able to discharge several. But we still, I believe, have six or seven who are still patients currently.

KAYE: Well, listen, your heroic efforts there I'm sure helped save many lives. So we appreciate what you've done on behalf of the families.

VAUSE: We appreciate that.

KAYE: Who have loved ones dealing with this. Thank you very much.

VAUSE: All right. Thank you.

KAYE: Bill Vause is here with us this morning.

We are learning more about the victims this morning as families are hearing what happened to their loved ones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. As we said, we are learning the names of the victims this morning. We should have the full list of names from this shooting here in Aurora, Colorado, about 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Nick Valencia joining me now from Atlanta, who has more information on another victim.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Randi. We just got off the phone with the father of another victim, this being the fifth that CNN can independently confirm. We spoke to the father of John Thomas Larimer of Crystal Lake, Illinois. His father, Scott Larimer, telling us that his son was killed, was among the 12 people killed in that Aurora, Colorado, theater shooting early Friday morning.

They said the family got notification about John's death last night around midnight. They tell us that his -- their son was in the Navy. He had not yet seen combat. In fact, this was his first posting just outside of Denver, Colorado. And according to his father right now, the family is working on putting together a statement, Randi. We'll hopefully have that for our viewers next hour.

But again, just to reiterate, CNN now independently confirming a fifth name of the 12 killed early Friday in the Aurora, Colorado, theater shooting, that being John Thomas Larimer, sailor, U.S. servicemen, and one of the victims there in that deadly shooting -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. Another terrible loss and such a difficult time for these families, our hearts certainly go out to them.

Nick Valencia, thank you very much.

VALENCIA: Thank you.

KAYE: I will be back with much more here from Aurora, Colorado. For now I'll hand it back to Gary Tuchman who has some other news in Atlanta -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Randi, thank you.

Searching for answers and suspects in a fatal bus bombing. The suspected bomber was caught on surveillance camera right before the attack. But did he have an accomplice who got away? That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Checking top stories. Police are searching for a possible second suspect in last Wednesday's suicide bombing in Bulgaria. Five Israeli tourists and a bus driver were killed. Investigators believe the bomb may have been detonated by this man in the shorts. He was caught on surveillance camera at the Burgas International Airport just an hour before the explosion. But now they're looking into whether he had help.

Police in Iowa say they're now treating the disappearance of two young girls as an abduction. Ten-year-old Lyric Cook and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins vanished near Myers Lake on July 13th, eight days ago while on a bike ride. Police, crews and divers searched the 25-acre lake and say the girls are not there. Now there's a $50,000 reward leading to an arrest and conviction.

Police returned to search the apartment of the suspect in yesterday's shooting, where they face trip wires and booby-traps to get inside.

We go back out to Randi Kaye for the latest on the investigation into the movie theater massacre.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, everyone, to Aurora, Colorado. I'm Randi Kaye. Let me -- let me get you caught up now on the latest details from here in Aurora. We are learning more about the victims this morning. A few names have trickled out in the last few minutes, in fact. But coming up at 10:00 a.m., we expect police to release the full list of victims in this shooting. Here at the theater, people have gathered to remember those. There was a vigil last night. Much of their makeshift memorial is still here. Officials have also set up a grief counseling for folks here for anyone who needs help, who just needs to talk about what happened in their community. We also have a new image to show you this morning. Take a look at this with me. It comes from the adult sex Website, adultfriendfinder. Police believe that this is James Holmes, the suspect in the shooting. But investigators haven't been able to confirm that yet. Sources did say, though, that Holmes had died his hair red before the attack. Police and federal investigators are gathered at James Holmes' apartment right now. They've been there now for a couple of days. Inside, they have been able to see booby traps. This place is rigged. A sophisticated and potentially deadly setup. And so far they have just been able to get a peek inside, but our Poppy Harlow has been bringing us some new details this morning. She's been speaking with law enforcement. Poppy, how sophisticated do they say this setup is?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Very sophisticated, relatively speaking, for someone who is not believed to be an expert at this. They told me, a law enforcement official just told me this morning, Randi, this is a unique situation. Not something they typically see. That he showed some expertise in setting this up. This was certainly not, quote, crude. What they also told me that it's very disturbing is that the devices, the explosive devices found in Holmes' apartment are what they quote, victim-initiated devices, I.E., booby traps, that they would be set off by people going into the apartment, so likely first responders. They do not believe that these, basically, IEDs bombs, are tied to any timers. That is good news for people in this area. They also told me, though, that -- that a big concern would be an ensuing fire from any detonation. And here's why. Those robots that they sent in the apartment yesterday captured video of jars with black powder, what law enforcement officials believe to be liquid accelerant. That would just fuel the flame, if you will, of any detonated device. It would just make it worse. And that's a huge, huge concern. What they also told me is that they really haven't seen anything, typically, like this, in a situation like this before, and that this is -- this is very unique and much more sophisticated than they would have expected, Randi.

KAYE: And how many people are there I mean and who are they? I mean who has been brought in terms of the experts and the expertise that they're looking for to help with this investigation?

HARLOW: So, I would say, just from what I've been seeing, you've maybe got 40 officials over there now, but they are expecting about 100 officials. And we're talking everyone, local Aurora P.D., fire department, chemists, interestingly, were flown in from D.C. Obviously, you're dealing with, you know, chemicals here. Weapons. They also have brought in ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. They flew in bomb techs from ATF from out of state. They also have brought in ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, they flew in bomb techs from ATF -- from out of state, they've also brought in some EOD officials, that means explosive ordinance and disposal officials. They do expect these officials to -- at some point get suited up in full bomb suits when they go in the apartment. So you've got a host of experts here.

KAYE: Poppy Harlow, that place is certainly the focus today. That is for sure. We want to check in now with Mike Brooks, because we're talking about the suspect and he has been identified, by the way, as James Holmes. He's a 24-year-old doctoral student at the University of Colorado. And he had allegedly bought as many as 6,000 rounds with the ability to shoot up to 50 a minute. Yes, 50 a minute. So we've got our law enforcement from HLN expert analyst with us, Mike Brooks. Mike, when can we expect the charges to be laid out and what happens next in terms of this investigation?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the focus today is going to be on that apartment and what's inside there. You know, specialized bomb techs from the FBI, the local law enforcement bomb techs, they are going to go ahead, make plans, make entry, go in there, to render safe that situation. And then there may be other charges coming from inside that apartment. There's also other potential evidence that could be inside that apartment, Randi, that we're going to be taking a look at. And what charges? Well, you know, we know that there are going to be local charges. Possibly first- degree murder, if they can say for sure, you know, this was totally premeditated, which to me as a former investigator looks like it was. You'll have those charges, but then you could also have a number of federal charges. But we'll wait to see what's inside that apartment till we can say exactly what they're going to charge him with.

But, you know, one of the other things, you talked about all the ammo that he bought and these weapons. Where was he getting his money, Randi? This is one of the questions that I have. Because if you look at those Glock handguns, those 40-caliber Glocks, those aren't cheap. That's about $450 a piece. You'll talk about the AR-15, the assault weapon that he had, that rifle. Those start anywhere from $1,000 to maybe $1,300. Then you have the Remington 870 shotgun, those aren't that expensive. But to buy all that ammo and to buy all the ballistic gear, which apparently he bought online at the cost of around $300. That adds up. Where is that money coming from? We don't know.

KAYE: That's a good question, because we don't really know a lot about him. We don't know where he was working ...

BROOKS: Right.

KAYE: If he had a job or much more about him.

BROOKS: Exactly.

KAYE: He's sort of a recluse. So, I guess we're learning more about him this morning and certainly in the days ahead. Mike Brooks, thank you very much for that.

All morning, we have been learning the names of those killed in this shooting. Just moments ago, we learned one of the victims was in the Navy. He's identified as 27-year-old John Larimer. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is joining me now by telephone. Barbara, good morning. What can you tell us about this latest victim?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Randi. This young man, John Larimer, had only been in the Navy less than a year, we are told. 27 years old. His specialty, he was attached to a cryptology unit. You know, this is the new era of warfare, cyberwar, information operations, cryptology. That's what he was doing, stationed in Colorado. Apparently, by all accounts, he went to the movies that night with some of his buddies. Very, very sad business. The Navy this morning is preparing, with the permission of his family, to render full military honors to this young man. He may have served in the military for less than a year, but the Navy considers him, obviously, one of their own. They can also tell us that this young man came from a military Navy family, that both his father and his grandfather served. A Navy arrived at his home -- at his parent's home in Chicago last night to give them the news. We are told there are military assistance officers with the family, helping them get through this really tragic business. Because what this is, is the same kind of procedure the U.S. military goes through when they lose someone in the combat zone, and then they move to assist the family. The procedures are no different when someone falls, the military really does move in and trying to do everything it can to help the families. The Navy expects to, Randi, issue some more public information about this young man later today. But, of course, the family is asking for privacy. Randi?

KAYE: Barbara Starr, thank you very much for that. We appreciate it.

23-year-old Micayla Medek was another one of the victims, we've learned. Her family didn't find out for 19 hours after the shooting that she had died. Earlier, CNN's Gary Tuchman talked with her aunt, Jenny Zakovich, on the telephone.

JENNY ZAKOVICH, SHOOTING VICTIM'S AUNT: We're just taking it minute by minute. And we just wish we could be out there with my brother right now. We're trying to arrange -- sorry. We're trying to put some stuff together to get my family, my -- Micayla's 81-year-old grandma is here in Milwaukee area and we want to get us all together and trying to maybe rent a van or something, and get out there to be with my brother. It's -- she was a great kid. She was just finding herself. She would never harm anybody. She didn't deserve to die this way.

KAYE: And then she also had something to say to the family of the shooter.

ZAKOVICH: I feel for the family of the shooter. I can't imagine what they're going through at this time. Just let them know, we don't blame them for his actions. And my heart goes out to the mom and dad of that family, too.

KAYE: Of course, the family of the suspect, James Holmes, is still trying to make sense of everything, and everything that's happened here. And they've asked for privacy while they cooperate with investigators.

We don't know much about the mental health or emotional state of the accused Colorado shooting suspect, but our clinical psychologist says there are signs to look for and he'll join us next for that conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye. It wasn't just police who were the first to respond to the massacre here in Aurora, Colorado. Doctors were called in, in the middle of the night, to treat the dozens of injured who began showing up at hospitals in and around Aurora. With us now, pediatric doctor Gary -- Guy Upshaw with the Children's Hospital of Colorado who was one of those called in on the night of this tragic shooting. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Dr. Upshaw. You were there as victims started pouring in to your hospital. Can you give us a sense of what that was like in the early hours of Friday morning?

DR. GUY UPSHAW, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, COLORADO: Well, at first we had a private vehicle driven a couple, and the wife drove her husband in, who had been hit by probably shotgun pellets or buckshot, and that was the first word that we had gotten, that a shooting occurred at a theater. And so immediately, we started thinking that we were probably going to receive other patients, and soon thereafter, we did.

KAYE: And at this stage, can you tell us how many people are injured and do you know how many of the patients at your hospital are still critical?

UPSHAW: Yes. And fortunately, at our hospital, the one patient who was listed in critical condition yesterday has now been improved to serious condition. We have what -- two other patients in the hospital, and I believe their conditions are fare. And fortunately, we released two patients home yesterday, patients that I took care of in the emergency department, and unfortunately, we had one deceased patient in the hospital yesterday.

KAYE: When you think about the weapons that were used, Dr. Upshaw, I mean we have a rifle, an assault rifle, a shotgun, two Glock handguns, what kind of wounds do these types of weapons inflict? I mean what did you see?

UPSHAW: Well, fortunately it appeared the patients who were hit by these shotgun pellets were probably a good distance away from the shooter, because the pattern was that these pellets were fairly widely spaced. A lot of the pellets had just gone beneath the skin or into muscle. So the patients were fortunate in that regard. One patient that I took care of did receive a wound from probably a high-velocity rifle, which shattered one of the bones in her lower leg.

KAYE: In your experience, I mean, this isn't the first time you've dealt with such emergencies, how do patients cope? Especially the children? You know, there is such an emotional trauma associated with something like this. I mean, do they understand what's going on? And how do you sort of talk them through it?

UPSHAW: No. And you know, it's such a horrible situation, even the adults initially don't seem to understand sometimes what's going on. It's so out of the realm of our ordinary experience, you know, most of us can't imagine going through such a horror. And so the children in particular need support. And we need to remember that they are people, talk to them, calm them down. They're more scared than anyone. We also want to enlist the aid of their parents and keep their parents close at hand if they are available to help console their child. Because, obviously, they're going to be the best at reassuring their child.

KAYE: Dr. Guy Upshaw, thank you very much, and thank you for all you've done to try to save so many of these victims.

UPSHAW: You are very welcome.

KAYE: For many of the surviving victims and their families, this nightmare will continue over the coming months and for many, many years to come. Mark Kelly, the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, a shooting survivor herself as you probably recall, spoke with Anderson Cooper about the massacre here in Colorado.

MARK KELLY, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS' HUSBAND: Well, I think, you know, I think everybody handles it differently. You know, and I think there's those stages of grief. You know, for me, the first thing was disbelief and shock, and then I very quickly got to anger. You know, even a year and a half later, you know, this is a process that takes a long time. I mean, for me, a year and a half later, you know, I think about this every single day.

KAYE: Well, we may never really understand why people snap, but we'll always wonder if there were signs. We always ask those questions, when something horrible like this happens. And joining me now is clinical psychologist, Jeff Gardere. Jeff, good morning. Are there signs of social isolation or behavioral problems that we can look at? I mean, neighbors told us that James Holmes was a bit of a recluse. What does that tell you?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we see the patterns from all of these mass shootings. The FBI has put a profile together. And this individual, Holmes, is starting to fit that profile, and there were warning signs that we do know of for this individual and for other individuals. As you talked about, the seclusion, the isolation, the rage, the anger. And what we see most often is this slow decompensation into mental instability. The problem here, Randi, is that many young people who are having these issues, because they may not have hallucinations, therefore, they're not admitted into psychiatric hospitals, they're not a danger to others at the time, and the parents are literally pulling their hair out because they don't know how to get those kids to get the help that they need. The kids don't want to get on the psychotropic medications because they have such side effects, and of course, they don't want other kids to know or other young people to know that they're having these mental health issues.

KAYE: Yeah, and in this case, the Colorado suspect's own mother said that she knew he did it. She wasn't at all surprised. I mean, but he hasn't been charged yet, and his own mother is basically convicting him. Is that something that surprises you at all? I mean, are there usually family problems when you see something like this develop?

GARDERE: It doesn't surprise me at all. When we go back and we do the psychological autopsies on these cases, we find out that the parents themselves have been tortured because they see that their kids are having these schizoid kinds of issues, and by schizoid, I'm talking about someone who may be delusional or getting to be delusional, and we're seeing that in this individual. The reason that he may have chosen this particular movie, identifying with one of the arch villains, and the parents just don't know what to do, and it's their biggest nightmare that their kid might end up doing something so massively destructive, and that nightmare came to fruition for these parents. So, you have to feel for them, too. Of course, we feel for the victims.

KAYE: Let me ask you this very quickly, I mean in the past we've seen well-thought-out plans for methodically shooting crowds. I mean is there sort of a slow-burning anger or mental issue that you find eating away at suspects like James Holmes?

GARDERE: That's right. When we look at a suspect like Holmes, what we're seeing is that there has been anger building up for years, part of it because of the delusional thinking, part of it because of a personality disorder. They see people as coming against them. They're very paranoid. They don't feel valued. They feel that people isolate them, but they really isolate themselves. So, that rage builds to the point of where they begin to plan this massive destruction, as we've seen in this particular case.

KAYE: Jeff Gardere, always appreciate your insight. Thank you very much.

GARDERE: Thank you.

KAYE: Suspected movie theater shooter James Holmes had been stock- piling a deadly arsenal of guns, which were all apparently legal for him to possess. The details from Aurora, Colorado, next.

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KAYE: We're looking for answers in the Colorado movie theater shooting this morning, and we want to know more about the suspect, James Holmes. Our Casey Wian has done some digging.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me is the home where Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes lived with his family when he was in high school. This is a suburb of San Diego called Rancho Penasquitos, very nice neighborhood, a place where neighbors say, people move because the schools are so good. His mother remains inside the house, his father earlier today taken off by escort by San Diego police escort on his way to Colorado. In speaking with neighbors, including the next-door neighbor, a gentleman named Tom Mai, said that James Holmes, when he knew him was a very normal kid with no rowdy friends.

TOM MAI, FORMER NEIGHBOR OF JAMES HOLMES: He is a very quiet guy, you know, kind of shy, nice guy, you know, no violent-- I didn't hear any very annoying loud music from his family, you know, (inaudible). Yeah. So no loud friends.

WIAN: We spoke with another neighbor, a woman named Julie Adams, whose son actually played on the same soccer team in high school with James Holmes. Here's what she had to say.

JULIE ADAMS: The helicopters were circling the neighborhood, and so I pulled out the annual and I showed it to him. And I just showed it to him real quickly, and then he headed off to work, and that's when he came back to me and said, oh, my gosh, I played soccer with him.

WIAN: No one from the family is speaking at this point. Neighbors and friends have been coming and going throughout the day, bringing food and cards, well wishes to the family here. Also, there's been a very active law enforcement presence. San Diego police officers have been coming and going, keeping the media away from the property. Also, plain-clothed investigators spent a couple of hours inside. They would not say where they are from. Family releasing a statement, saying their hearts go out to all of those impacted by this shooting, saying they are cooperating with law enforcement, both here in the San Diego area and in Colorado. Casey Wian reporting from San Diego.

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KAYE: And thank you, Casey, for that. At the heart of Friday's massacre is this, the suspect's gun arsenal, multiple handguns, shotguns, an assault rifle and more. Earlier this morning, I asked attorney Paul Callan how much of this stockpile was legal in the state of Colorado for James Holmes to possess.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Every weapon that he had appears to be totally legal, not only under Colorado law, but under federal law. He had two Glock semiautomatic pistols. He purchased them legally in local gun stores. He had an A-15 assault rifle, totally legal for sale in Colorado and under federal law. He had high- capacity ammunition that he purchased online, totally legal under both federal and state law. And he was also equipped with this somewhat bizarre equipment that normally you'd see soldiers or police officers wearing, armored equipment to protect him from being shot himself. Online purchase, totally legal under existing law.