Centennial, Colorado: Prosecutors formally charged James Holmes—main accused of the July 20 Aurora shooting in a movie house that killed 12 people and wounded 58—with 24 counts of first-degree murder.
District Attorney Carol Chambers believes that Holmes acted with premeditation by purchasing a shotgun, semiautomatic assault rifle, two semiautomatic guns, 6,000 rounds of ammunition and other gear in the weeks leading up to massacre, The Associated Press reported.
Holmes, 24, faces 12 counts of first-degree murder, 12 counts of first-degree murder with “universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life,” 58 counts of attempted first-degree murder and another 58 “universal malice” charges related to attempted murder.
He was also charged with possession of an explosive device, but it was unclear if that was tied to the smoke canister he allegedly ignited in the theater or the improvised explosive devices later found in Holmes’ booby-trapped apartment.
Earlier on Friday, Holmes’ defence team said in a court filing that he was a patient of Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist and medical director at the University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.
Holmes was a doctoral candidate in the university’s neuroscience program before dropping out June 10.
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