DENVER (AP) — James Eagan Holmes came from a well-tended San Diego
enclave of two-story homes with red-tiled roofs, where neighbors recall
him as a clean-cut, studious young man of sparing words.
Tall and
dark-haired, he stared clear-eyed at the camera in a 2004 high school
yearbook snapshot, wearing a white junior varsity soccer uniform — No.
16. The son of a nurse, Arlene, and a software company manager, Robert,
James Holmes was a brilliant science scholar in college.
The
biggest mystery surrounding the 24-year-old doctoral student was why he
would have pulled on a gas mask and shot dozens of people early Friday
in a suburban Denver movie theater, as police allege.
In the age
of widespread social media, no trace of Holmes could be found on
Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter or anywhere on the web. Either he
never engaged or he scrubbed his trail.
A longtime neighbor in San Diego,
where Holmes grew up, remembers only a "shy guy ... a loner" from a
churchgoing family. In addition to playing soccer at Westview High
School, he ran cross country.
The bookish demeanor concealed an
unspooling life. Holmes struggled to find work after graduating with
highest honors in the spring of 2010 with a neuroscience degree from the
University of California, Riverside, said the neighbor, retired
electrical engineer Tom Mai.
Holmes enrolled last year in a
neuroscience Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver but was
in the process of withdrawing, said school officials, who didn't provide
a reason.
As part of the advanced program in Denver, a James
Holmes had been listed as making a presentation in May about Micro DNA
Biomarkers in a class named "Biological Basis of Psychiatric and
Neurological Disorders."
In academic achievement "he was at the top of the top," recalled Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White.
Holmes concentrated his study on "how we all behave," White added. "It's ironic and sad."
From
a distance, Holmes' life appears unblemished, a young man with
unlimited potential. There are no indications he had problems with
police.
Somehow, the acclaimed student and quiet neighbor reached a
point where he painted his hair red, called himself "The Joker," the
green-haired villain from the Batman movies, according to New York City
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said he had been briefed on the
matter.
Holmes headed for the theater in body armor, armed with an
assault-style rifle, a shotgun and two Glock handguns, authorities
said.
Police said he started his attack by tossing a gas canister
into the theater, where he had bought a ticket for the midnight showing
of "The Dark Night Rises," the new Batman movie.
A federal law
enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the
ongoing probe into the rampage, said Holmes bought each of the four guns
from retailers in the last two months.
Holmes bought his first
Glock pistol in Aurora, Colo., on May 22. Six days later, he picked up a
Remington shotgun in Denver. About two weeks later, he bought a .223
caliber Smith & Wesson rifle in Thornton, Colo., and then a second
Glock in Denver on July 6 — 13 days before the shooting, the official
said.
A high-volume drum magazine was attached to the rifle, an assault weapon, the official said.
Julie
Adams, whose son played junior varsity soccer with Holmes, said her son
remembered little about the suspect, which was unusual for the
tight-knit team.
"I don't think many of the kids (teammates) knew him. He was kind of a loner," she said.
Jackie
Mitchell, a furniture mover who lives several blocks from the suspect's
apartment building in Colorado, said he had drinks with Holmes at a
local bar on Tuesday night, though he gave no sign of being distressed
or violent.
After Holmes approached him "we just talked about
football. He had a backpack and geeky glasses and seemed like a real
intelligent guy, and I figured he was one of the college students,"
Mitchell said.
When Mitchell saw Holmes' photo after the shooting, "the hair stood up on my back," he said. "I know this guy."
Holmes
is not talking to police and has asked for a lawyer, according to a law
enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing case. Police found jars
of chemicals in Holmes' booby-trapped apartment with wires nearby, the
law enforcement official said.
When he surrendered meekly in the
movie house parking lot, Holmes told authorities what he'd done at his
residence in the Denver suburb of Aurora, the third most populous city
in Colorado.
"Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this
tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved," Holmes'
family said in a written statement Friday. "We ask that the media
respect our privacy during this difficult time."
San Diego
Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton said there were no records
found under his name, not even for a traffic ticket. Riverside County
prosecutors also have no criminal record for him, said John Hall, a
spokesman for the district attorney's office.
On Friday morning, police escorted the suspect's father from the family's San Diego home. The mother stayed inside, receiving visitors who came to offer support.
San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown, spoke to reporters in the driveway of the Holmes' home, on behalf of the family.
"As
you can understand, the Holmes family is very upset about all of this,"
she said. "It's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise."
___
Blood reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson in San Diego;
Eileen Sullivan, Alicia A. Caldwell and Pete Yost in Washington; Tom
Hays in New York; Amy Taxin in Orange County, Calif.; Colleen Slevin in
Denver; and Eric Carvin and AP researcher Judith Ausuebel in New York
contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
