‘Dark Knight Rises’ Massacre Victim Photos, Plus Other Colorado Shootings [NSFW]

Colorado has seen its fair share of shootings over the past few decades. With many pointing fingers at video games and films with violent content, the state seems to suffer from some high-profile acts of gun violence. From the Columbine school shootings to the recent violence erupting at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, Colorado can't seem to shake the stigma of horrific violence with a media connection.

In 1982, 14-year old Jason Rocha, a student at Deer Creek Middle School shot and killed 13-year old Scott Darwin Michael. The controversy surrounding this case was the result of the CAT (Closed Adolescent Treatment) program, which oversaw Rocha's 12 year incarceration. The strange nature of shooting was that the boys involved were your typical all-American types, the proverbial boys next door, not the kinds of kids to commit a shooting.

Also at the Deer Creek Middle School, in 2010, there was a shooting around 3:15 pm involving a 32-year old male. He entered the school, and, when prompted by the custodian to sign in, left the building and opened fire with a high-powered bolt action rifle. Two eighth graders, a male and a female, were injured in the shooting, with the male being in critical condition for 4 days.

In 2007, at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Center in Arvada, Colorado and the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a 24-year old missionary-in-training named Matthew J. Murray entered the building on a Sunday morning and opened fire. After killing two people and injuring two others, Murray then traveled to the New Life Church, using a semi-automatic rifle and two pistols to shoot 5 others, killing two. Murray was shot by a security guard and former police officer, Jeanne Assam. Later, Murray would die of a self-inflicted gunshot.

The most famous shooting in Colorado is, of course the Columbine massacre. On April 20^th, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, two seniors, entered their school and began a shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of 12 students and 1 teacher. The pair would later commit suicide. The Columbine shootings would set off a series of debates between violence in the media, as well as the effects on young people.

Colorado, sadly, adds the late-night shootings at an Aurora movie theatre to the list of gun violence. James Holmes, 24, launched an attack on theatergoers taking in the premier of The Dark Knight Rises. 20 minutes into the film, armed with an assault rifle and two handguns, Holmes lobbed some kind of gas canister into the theater and began opening fire while wearing a gas mask. 12 people were killed and around 50 others were injured.