WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper joined people nationwide in offering condolences to Lafayette, Louisiana after a gunman opened fire at a movie theater Thursday night, killing two people and wounding nine others before shooting himself.
“All of my thoughts, my heart, my prayers, everything is with the families of the victims and the victims,” Hickenlooper said during a guest appearance on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
He was at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs for the National Governors Association Summer Meeting.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat, was in his 2nd year as Colorado’s governor when, in July 2012, James Holmes started shooting inside the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado during a 12 a.m. screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
In all, 12 people were killed and 70 others were injured.
“It was over three years ago — three years and three days ago that we had the shooting in Aurora. It’s burned in my brain going in there, going out to the site and seeing the carnage,” Hickenlooper recalled.
“It was almost a nightmare and to have it happen again, you just hope it’s not a copycat.”
Earlier this month, Holmes was convicted of 165 charges, including 24 counts of first-degree murder for the Aurora shootings. The sentencing phase of his trial is now underway. The same jury that convicted Holmes will decide if he’s sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison for the crimes.
In Louisiana, investigators identified the Lafayette shooter as John Russell Houser, 59.
Witnesses said he stood up about 20 minutes into an Amy Schumer movie, “Trainwreck,” at the Grand 16 Lafayette, fired at least 13 shots and then initially joined the people who were fleeing the theater.
His vehicle was reportedly parked near an exit door.
Houser returned the theater when police officers arrived and shot himself, according to information from Lafayette Police. It was not immediately clear why Houser, described as a “drifter,” was in Lafayette on Thursday night.
“My heart breaks for them,” Hickenlooper said of the victims in Lafayette.