TORONTO – Colorado prosecutors were filing formal charges Monday against James Holmes, the former neuroscience student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 in a theatre shooting rampage. Legal analysts expect the case to be dominated by arguments over his sanity.
Information has slowly trickled in about the sole suspect police allege opened fire in a crowded movie theatre in Aurora, Colo.
Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes is 24 years old. Police say he was born on Dec. 13, 1987.
Police have said he has no criminal record or links to terrorism.
The mysterious man with hair dyed a deep shade of orange does not have a significant online footprint, and details about his upbringing and recent years have only come to light through police and American reporters drudging up information from his past.
San Diego police said on July 20, that his parents raised Holmes in San Diego, where they still reside. After high school, he moved to Colorado for his studies.
In American reports, he’s described as a shy, responsible and studious man, who was enrolled in the neuroscience Ph.D program at the University of Colorado-Denver.
His parents released a statement, circulated on behalf of the San Diego Police Department.
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“Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy,” the statement read. “We ask that the media respect our privacy at this difficult time … We are still trying to process this info and appreciate that people respect our privacy.”
Reports suggest he was in the midst of withdrawing from the Ph.D program. Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that Holmes had taken intensive oral exams to mark the end of his first year in the 35-student program, but the University of Colorado officials wouldn’t say if he had passed, citing privacy concerns.
In a resume he posted on Monster.com, Holmes described himself as an “aspiring scientist,” looking for professional opportunities as a laboratory technician. Reports say he was having trouble securing a job.
Holmes has a wealth of education: he graduated with highest honours from the University of California at Riverside with a neuroscience degree in 2010.
Prior to that, he graduated from Westview High School in San Diego in 2006, U.S. reports cited. During his high school career, he played soccer and ran cross-country.
He was renting an apartment in the suburban Denver area at the time of the theatre shooting.
By July 21, police alleged Holmes planned the shooting rampage with “calculation and deliberation,” receiving months of deliveries of weaponry and protective gear.
Police said they had to disarm his living quarters, which were lined with dangerous explosive materials set up as a booby trap to kill whoever entered it.
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