Batman Interrupted

Am sure everybody has heard by now of the crazy (genius?) kid who shot up the theater at the Aurora Mall today.   His apartment house is five blocks due East of us, and there are fears that it's wired with a number of sophisticated explosive devices.

Just before he lawyered up, the suspect apparently told the lawmen that he had booby-trapped his apartment on the third floor.  To add weight to his claim, a tenant who lives directly below him enlightened the authorities further.  At around midnight, she was awakened to insanely loud music coming from the unit above.  She went upstairs and banged on his door, not getting a response.  Of course her neighbor wasn’t there, since he’d gone to the movies.  She put her ear to the door, and as she did so, it seemed like it moved a little as if it was slightly ajar.  She thought about pushing it open, but then thought better of it (possibly gaining an everlasting respect for intuition).  She tried to report the issue to police, but they told her that every unit was tied up with an emergency.  You bet your ass they were.  Then, at 1:00 am, the music stopped.

Armed with this information, the FBI or the Swat team or the Bomb Squad were especially cautious.  They knew better than to kick the door down.  So a ladder was brought in with a cherry picker whereby they could use small cameras to look inside.  There, they observed large numbers of jars sitting on the floors, filled with a clear liquid, each of them next to boxes of what appeared to be ammunition.  Wires were running all over the place from jar to box to jar and so on.  Elaborate.  Maybe, just maybe, he is a Joker with a dark sense of humor, and it’s only 7Up and speaker wire.

But I don’t think so.

I mean, how freakin’ diabolical is that?  If the jars and wires and stuff are for real, and if the suspect's neighbor had opened the door, the cops would have been occupied with an apartment building disaster.  Immediately afterward, they would get a call regarding the Theater massacre.  Or they might just have been summoned to both events at the same time.  What if, what if.  Hypothetical, sinister shit, huh?

Earlier today, we were taking Wingman’s dad on an errand, and I had my trusty little point and shoot with me.  Unfortunately, we were driving while I was taking most of these photos.  Therefore, this was the only shot I was able to get of the cherry-picker they used to spy into the apartment.

There were a number of confabs among various authorities, and cameramen (?).

The sound of choppers woke Wingman up at 3:00 am, and it hasn't stopped all day.  Not just police, media, and hospital choppers, but Buckley Airbase seems to be in the act with Huey's, Blackhawks, Chinooks, Harriers (not really, I no longer can tell one chopper from another, and I’m sure they quit making Harriers).  They are huge and dark and loud.  And they are hovering - thok thok thok thok - earplugs tonight for sure.

Wingman walked down there, and saw a reporter lady interviewing a guy who claimed to have had beers with our alleged shooter at The Zephyr Lounge a couple of nights ago.  Wingman suggested to the media lady that if he had her job, he’d trot down Colfax to the Zephyr, get a tall cool drink (it's currently 100º in Aurora), and chat up the patrons and the bartender.  Human interest stuff if nothing else.  She was all kinds of grateful, and thought it was a great idea.  Of course, a very fine looking reporter lady walking down Colfax in a short skirt and spike heels might be mistaken for another kind of professional.  So that wasn’t very nice of Wingman.

The various FBI teams or Swat Teams or Bomb Squad teams have taken over the little Latino bar and parking lot directly across the street from the apartment building.  Base ops, you know.  They’ve also evacuated several buildings in the area.

We initially heard that, at 6:00 pm, the authorities would be closing a major street that runs by the building.  They would then send in a robot to either remove or detonate the jars and boxes and wires. That sounds like a whole shitload of explosives to me.

Several people wanted to come to our place this evening for the festivities.  A big day for Kodak moments, and I was sure the whole gang would be walking down there to get as close as possible to the action.  There's no place close to park, and there's no way this lily liver is going to attempt walking that far.  Remember - 100º or thereabouts.

I was distressed at the idea of missing a chance for more photos, but then I heard that they’d decided instead to close the street sometime over the weekend.  Good thinking; Friday, rush hour, traffic streaming out of the massive medical center.  Lookie loos all over the place.  Saturday is way better.  Suspected shooter's apartment building shows just above the fire truck.  Wingman's rear-view mirror ornaments comprise that weird crap in the center.

Swat boy there looks thoroughly prepared.  I think he's eating CornNuts.  Apartment building is the one with the sign on it.  Recently remodeled to attract med students at University of Colorado Hospital (the suspect's recent Alma Mater).  Whoo boy.  All those people are currently hanging out elsewhere.

We were across the street for both of the above photos, and I zoomed in for this one.  Used my new little Canon PowerShot ELPH pocket camera.  Canon rules.  But I digress.
 

And here’s a cameraman outside one of ghetto-type places soon to be remodeled for housing more med students.  Free rent?  Wonder if there’s a vacancy.

Everyone will know how this all shakes out tomorrow or Sunday, and if the ending turns out to be anticlimactic and non-photo-worthy, I won’t talk about it anymore.  And so much the better.

Besides, I might miss something else while I'm hunched over the laptop.


RAM