(CBS/AP) They had one thing in common: They were eager to watch a new action film.
In the span of a few minutes hundreds of people in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater were terrorized when a masked gunman entered an auditorium at the Century 16 multiplex, threw a gas canister, and opened fire.
In the smoky dark, moviegoers tried to run or crawl for cover. In what was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, 12 people were killed and 58 injured.Among the victims: A hero who tried to block his girlfriend's body from bullets. A man celebrating his birthday. A young sports reporter, who had coincidentally survived a mass shooting just months before. A Navy sailor from nearby Buckley Air Force Base. A six-year-old girl.
The identities of those who were killed early Friday are slowly being confirmed by authorities and family members. Below are some of them:
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Alex Sullivan, in a photo taken on his wedding day in 2011.
(Credit: Family photo)Alex Sullivan
For Alex Matthew Sullivan, it was to be a weekend of fun: He planned to ring in his 27th birthday with friends at a special midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."
Another reason to celebrate: Sunday would have been his first wedding anniversary.
"He was a very, very good young man," said Sullivan's uncle, Joe Loewenguth.
"He always had a smile, always made you laugh. He had a little bit of comic in him. Witty, smart. He was loving, had a big heart."
In a statement Alex's family said it had lost "a cherished member."
"Alex was smart, funny, and above all loved dearly by his friends and family."
Petty Officer Third Class John Thomas Larimer, of Crystal Lake, Ill.
(Credit: KCNC)John Larimer
Navy officials confirmed that Petty Officer Third Class John Thomas Larimer, of Crystal Lake, Ill., died from injuries sustained when a gunman opened fire in the theater early Friday morning.
Larimer, 27, joined the Navy in June 2011 and was a cryptologic technician third class. He had been stationed at the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command station at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.
A fellow sailor from the unit was also injured in the shooting. He was treated at the scene and released.
"I am incredibly saddened by the loss of Petty Officer John Larimer," said Cmdr. Jeffrey Jakuboski, Larimer's commanding officer.
"He was an outstanding shipmate. A valued member of our Navy team, he will be missed by all who knew him.
Jessica Ghawi.
(Credit: Twitter)Jessica Ghawi
A blogger who recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting, Jessica Ghawi (also known as Jessica Redfield) was among those killed in Aurora. Her death came as a "complete and utter shock," said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.
Ghawi, 24, moved to Denver from Texas about a year ago and talked of a career as a sports reporter. Friends and colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty. "She was always kind of a sponge as far as how she could be an even better journalist and sports broadcaster," said Peter Burns, a radio sports show host with Mile High Sports Radio in Denver, where Ghawi recently interned.
Ghawi blogged at length about surviving the Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto that killed two people and sent several others to the hospital. She wrote of the Toronto shooting: "I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath."
Yet, Burns said, Jessica Ghawi seemed more enlivened than intimidated by surviving that shooting.
Jordan Ghawi said on his website that a man who was with his sister at the theater described the chaos, saying he and Jessica Ghawi dropped to take cover when the gunman first started shooting. Jessica Ghawi was shot in the leg, her brother wrote, describing details relayed to him by a man identified on the blog only as a mutual friend named Brent.
Jessica Ghawi began screaming when she was shot, and the friend tried to calm her and stop the bleeding, according to the brother. The man was then shot, but he continued attending to Jessica's wound before he realized she had stopped screaming.
The friend escaped the theater but is expected to survive. Jordan Ghawi praised the man, calling his actions "nothing but heroic."
Matt McQuinn, as seen in a 2004 yearbook photo.
(Credit: WHIO)Matt McQuinn
Matt McQuinn was with his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, and her brother Nick at the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" when a gunman burst into the theater, released canisters of pepper spray and opened fire.
CBS Affiliate WHIO reports that, according to Samantha's grandmother, McQuinn and Nick Yowler tried to shield the young woman with their bodies.
She suffered a bullet wound to the leg; Nick escaped physically unharmed.
But McQuinn, 27, died.
He and Yowler had met in Ohio and moved last year to Denver, where they worked at a Target store.
"They're really fun people," said co-worker Melissa Downen.
Veronica Moser
Ashley Moser drifted in and out of consciousness in the ICU, bullets lodged in her throat and abdomen.
In her waking moments, she called for her 6-year-old daughter Veronica. Nobody had the heart to tell her that Veronica was already dead.
"Nobody can tell her about it," Annie Dalton said of her cousin, Ashley Moser. "She is in critical condition, but all she's asking about is her daughter."
Veronica was to start learning swimming lessons on Tuesday, Dalton said.
"She was excited about life as she should be. She's a 6-year-old girl," her great-aunt said
Her mother Ashley, 25, and 10 others were in critical condition as of Friday night.
Micayla Medek.
(Credit: KCNC)Micayla Medek
Her father's cousin, Anita Busch, told the Associated Press that the news, while heartbreaking, was a relief for the family after an agonizing day of waiting for word.
"I hope this evil act ... doesn't shake people's faith in God," she said.
Crew triggers detonation in Colo. shooter's apt.
Victim names emerge in Colo. rampage
Hundreds attend vigils for Colo. shooting victims
Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/i3MYuDo2jBo/
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