Obama shows solidarity with Colorado victims

AURORA, Colo.

US President Barack Obama greets Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan (2nd L) and Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates (L) after Air Force One landed in Colorado. ‘I come to Colorado not so much as president, as I do as a father and as a husband,’ Obama said during his visit to the grief stricken town where 12 people were killed in a recent attack. AP photo

Obama visited Colorado to offer hugs, tears and the nation’s sympathy to survivors of the Colorado shooting rampage. At the visit, Obama told the relatives of the 12 people who were killed at shooting during screening of the latest Batman movie that “all of America and much of the world is thinking about them.”

“I come to them not so much as president as I do as a father and as a husband,” said Obama, addressing reporters from a hospital hallway after his visits according to the Associated Press. Obama said he told the families of the victims of massacre that “all of America and much of the world is thinking about them.”

Romney approves Obamas’s visit

The massacre early July 20 in the Aurora movie theater left 12 dead and 58 wounded. A single suspect, James Holmes, is being held without bond on suspicion of multiple counts of first-degree murder after the shooting rampage.

“I confessed to them that words are always inadequate in these types of situations,” he said as thousands gathered for a vigil outside the municipal center in Aurora, just outside Denver. Obama offered comfort to families of the victims. He told them their loved ones would be remembered long after the justice system was done with the killer.

Speaking after visiting with families in hospital, he said he “had the chance to give folks some hugs, and to shed some tears, but also to share some laughs” as families remembered the “wonderful” lives of their loved ones according to Agence France-Presse. Republican challenger Mitt Romney said Obama’s decision to meet with the families was “the right thing.” The shooting temporarily silenced a bitter campaign fight for the White House between Obama and Romney.

He focused on the bravery of a young woman, Stephanie Davies, who saved her friend Allie Young by putting pressure on a gushing neck wound with one hand and calling for help on her cellphone with the other. “They assure us that out of this darkness a brighter day is going to come,” Obama said.
Meanwhile, suspect Holmes, 24, was set to his first appearance in court yesterday, Reuters reported. Police said they were still searching for a motive for the crime. Police revealed on July 22, that they had found Holmes’s computer inside his booby-trapped apartment, which could provide crucial details about how he planned and executed the attack, reportedly over a number of months.

Crime meets all elements of death penalty: presecutor

Holmes was scheduled to appear before Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester for a hearing that is expected to be brief. He will be represented by a public defender. Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers will decide whether to seek the death penalty for Holmes. She has prosecuted two of the three inmates on Colorado’s death row. Chambers may not announce her plan at the hearing.

The crime meets all the elements of Colorado capital case law, including premeditation, multiple victims, and the killing a child, among others, said former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman. “If James Holmes isn’t executed, Colorado may as well throw away its death penalty law,” he said.