By Nicole Cosentino, The Packet Group
Although Friday’s tragic theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, is 1,838.5 miles away, area moviegoers still are feeling the impact.
”It’s devastating. It’s just showing us what this world is coming to. There’s no empathy (for other people),” said Trish Rizzo, of Millstone, outside the Multiplex Cinemas in East Windsor on Friday before the showing of the third movie in the popular Batman series, “The Dark Knight Rises.”
She said, “People should start hugging their kids every day because you never know when some crazy bastard is going to come and ruin your life in a matter of seconds.”
According to an official press release from City of Aurora police, alleged gunman 24-year-old James Eagen Holmes went on a rampage during the Friday showing at midnight of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the Century 16 Movie Theater in the suburban area.
Mr. Holmes allegedly distracted the crowd with two exploding canisters of a gaseous irritant, then fired into the crowd with many rounds of ammunition, according to witnesses. Chaos ensued, and the shooting resulted in 12 deaths and 58 injuries, totaling 70 victims.
Ten people died in the theater, and two others died at one of the seven hospitals treating the victims, according to police.
Mr. Holmes was a doctoral candidate in the neuroscience program at the University of Colorado in Boulder. A California native, Mr. Holmes lived in Aurora and was in the process of withdrawing from the school, officials said.
The incident did weigh heavily on the minds of some moviegoers here in New Jersey as they made their way to see the film last weekend.
”I was kind of heartbroken,” said Abraham Selmy, of Franklin Township, outside of the Regal Commerce Center 18 on Route 1 in North Brunswick on Friday. “People go to see a movie and expect to come out happy. It was just horrible, to be honest.”
Others felt as if the tragedy was too far away to truly make an impact on their lives.
”I had no apprehension coming here,” said Janice Polon, of Philadelphia, at the United Artists Movies Theater inside the Market Fair mall on Route 1 in West Windsor on Saturday. “There are a lot of movie theaters; you can’t protect against every lunatic out there. That’s the world we live in.”
Regal Entertainment Group, which owns 519 theaters in 37 states and the District of Columbia, including the North Brunswick and Market Fair theaters, released a statement following the shootings.
”We are profoundly saddened by the tragedy that occurred at a Denver area theatre and are concerned for the victims and their families. The security and safety of our guests and staff is always our number one priority,” the statement read. “As is our custom, we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our security needs as necessary. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.”
Patrons offered plenty of advice to theater owners concerning security. While the incident brought out differing opinions from each individual, security was the one thing they all could agree on.
As Robert Crotty, of Pennington, stood outside the West Windsor theater Saturday, he likened movie theaters to airplanes and said just as United States air marshals are posted at each place, a police officer should be in each movie theater.
”Security is certainly something that people should think about. It would be great if we had more gun control laws,” he said.
Moviegoers also speculated as to why Mr. Holmes chose “The Dark Knight Rises” as his platform for a massacre.
A father and son dressed in Batman shirts came out for a Saturday evening screening of the film at Market Fair.
”It’s an absolute shame that there are people who get so involved with the movie that they actually think they could be the Joker,” said the son, Jimmy Lafman II, of Princeton. “You don’t think about those things happening, ever.”
His father, who said he has been a Batman fan since he was 8 years old, was not about to let anything stop him from seeing the film.
”You can’t stop going to the movies,” said the elder Jimmy Lafman, of Hopewell. “It’s terribly unfortunate that we have people like that in this society, but it has zero impact on me seeing this movie.”
Anyone wishing to donate to victim resources in Aurora can call 303-739-6346, according to the press release.

