Anderson Reporting from Aurora
Friday, July 20, 2012 12:49PM
Devastating news of a deadly shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado has saddened the "Anderson" team. Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims and families.
Please follow @AndersonCooper and @AC360 for the latest information on the tragedy — as the "AC 360" team is on the ground in Colorado.
Please leave your words of sympathy below.
Please follow @AndersonCooper and @AC360 for the latest information on the tragedy — as the "AC 360" team is on the ground in Colorado.
Please leave your words of sympathy below.
Filed Under: Community
Comments
Oh how I pray for all involved. Life seems like a horror movie sometimes. I pray for all of us and humanity. This planet needs some serious help from positive light spirits/angels.
Could you please give the web addresses for victims of the horrible shooting in Aurora, CO who need help with their medical bills? You covered two families tonight on your show who are asking for help.
I appreciate your open and frank coverage of the issues surrounding this shooting and hope you will keep alive the dialogue surrounding gun control. Because others cherish their 2nd Amendment Right to own guns, I feel I am denied my most fundamental right as an American citizen- the right to pursue happiness. I don't feel that I take my children to an airport or movie theater or church or shopping mall.... without worrying what can happen to them. It is NOT what our forefathers had in mind. Deb in NC
An open letter to all the grieving parents, siblings and friends of those murdered in Aurora: My heart aches for you all. I lost a daughter 3 years aqo in a tragic accident. I suggest that you all get grief counseling as soon as possible. I did and it saved my life. You will always feel the loss but the acute pain will soften in time. Believe it or not, you will survive. Just go with the grief and cry as much as you feel like for as long as you like. No one should tell you how or when to grieve. Bless you all. Carole in Louisiana
Thank you Anderson for your coverage of the recent tragedy.You were so nice to the families of the people that were lost. CNN is lucky to have you. As a mom I appreciate someone who sees all sides of the story.
Thanks,
Francine Smith
I agree that we should not say the name of killers going forward. Fame is what they want and just maybe if we don't say the name but use the name of victims it will slow if not stop these type of attempts for shamefull coverage. I fear for my kids everyday and this just adds to my fears. I'm 35 and have lived thru more tragic history milestones then I every thought growing up in the USA. My heart and prayers go out to everyone who has ever dealt with a loved ones lost before thier time at the hands of another person. I also want to thank the police and government officals for the way they have handled this. I understand that they want to preserve evidence and use it to locate more terrorist. I pray for our country and we will heal but never forget.
Anderson thanks for covering this tragedy in such a humanistic compassionate way so glad I by passed any coverage un til AC360..., my thoughts and prayers to yourself, your crew for yourn safety & tremendous job you are doing and also to everyone in Aurora. I hope that their healing will help them find some forgivenes and be able at some point to move on.
Take care. De-Ann
Thank you AC for not glorifying the shooter, and instead, focusing on the victims and their families. If only the rest of the media could get it right. . they should also stop showing his face, and stop mentioning his name. It's what he, and others like him, thrive on. Our prayers for peace and stregnth go out for the families.
Part Three
Gun Control - Rational Thinking on an Emotional Subject
Let me preface this with I am from Wyoming. My family hunts and I have had guns around me my whole life. I was thought to respect them and took hunters safety lessons in junior high.
I acknowledge the tradegy on Friday and at Columbine were ultimately at the hands of people with mental problems. However, I know that my father never has hunted with an assault rifle or a shot gun (every seasoned hunter knows a shot gun buckshot ruins the meat). So, why do people have a hard time separating the two? I believe there needs to be legislation around guns. I won't use "gun control" because as soon as the two words are put together people dig in to their beliefs, eliminating the opportunity for rationale discussions. At this point in time, the discussion around guns needs to be brought to the forefront and discussed in a rational mature manner. One that allows people who hunt or want a pistol for protection can have that but the unnecessary assault rifles are banned. My hope is some new discussions begin to happen on all topics and we can move forward to a more sophisticated, understanding society.
Living in Colorado now and having lived here during Columbine, I have done a lot of self-reflection as well as watched the reactions and responses to both events and this is what I have observed.
My children and Social Media
The kid's Facebook page is a mixture of kids being devestated because of the event and fights with those that don't want to hear about it any more. The issue isn't who cares and who doesn't care, but it is how each person individually copes. It breaks my heart to see kids fighting Facebook because they don't think one friend cares, when actually that person probably cares but just has taken on as much as their individual soul/heart can handle so they have to step back. I think a discussion needs to be had on how people cope with tradegy so people are accept other people's reaction.
Media - Desensitization
Yesterday at work, even though we are only about 10 miles from the tradegy, no one in my department mentioned the tradegy initially, the mood was somber, but people carried on in a professional yet somber way. A young co-worker who just moved here from Kansas was constantly checking his phone and at lunch brought up the tradegy. It occurred to me that my other three co-workers had lived through Columbine, we knew either what it would take to get through or knew how much we could or could not take on without it greatly affecting mental state. The young co-worker did not have the same history as us and this was new for him. Did it mean we cared less, no. It ment that we had different coping skills based on our history.
Part 2
Media Coverage
I will call this the Isaiah Shoels affect (victim of Columbine). We all know celebrities are dragged through the mud by gossip media outlets and quite frankly ourselves. We feel we have the right to judge a person we don't even know. During Columbine I watched with a heavy heart as Isaiah Shoels family went from being victims to being victimized. What I learned from Columbine was going public with anything brings great heartache because for those that support you there are just as many that will judge.
I saw the same thing yesterday with the young couple with the baby. The interview was heart breaking as you could see the young mother was devestated by what had happened to everyone in her family. I then started reading posts about "who takes a baby to a midnight show". It broke my heart. During her time of dispair, did she really deserve to be judged? Celebrities know about the price of fame (I believe it is wrong even if you are a celebrity), but a traumitized young mother does not deserve to be further victimized because of the general public or media outlets. I know how how you stop that, but I believe a frank discussion about behavioral responses good or bad is called for.
This is so sad, this makes me afraid to go see a movie with friends. This is so emotional for me because I was going to view the midnight showing after work and decided to go home.I can not imagine what these families are going through right now. I send my condolences to each family who has lost someone and the people who had to experience this catastrophic event.
My sincere sympathies to family ,friends, and the whole community in Colorado. Once again "the right to bear arms" seems to override the "Right to Life, Liberty,and the Pursuit of Happiness. We need stricter gun laws. It seems that any psychotic, selfish, idiot can get a gun. I personally think anyone buying a gun should have to pass in depth Psychological testing, at the buyer-applicants own expense.
I'm watching your telecast of the Aurora movie theater murders right now. I must say, that what you are doing, by telling the stories of the innocent people who's lives will never be the same, is exceptional. My heart and my prayers go out to all of the families devastated by such a horrific criminal act. I am fifty-seven years old, and I cannot believe that this sort of thing has happened in our country. What is happening to people? Why are they so angry? God help us!
Thank you for focusing on the victims so they don't have to victimized again by the media glorifying the criminal. our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims. Praying for all involved in this including the shooter but wouldn't want him to get a minute of air time.
Everyone is shocked by this horrific event that occurred in Clororado 24 hours ago. I live in Newfoundland Canada and have been glued to the TV today hoping that there are no more deaths and trying to make sense of a senseless situation. At this time people want to learn about the motive of this killer. At times like this the question of sanity is always raised. Do anyone really believe that this person is sane. There is no way that a normal well adjusted sane individual would perform this act.
My prayers go out to the victims family and the family of the killer.
Sad sad day Indeed.