Police are preparing to move into the booby-trapped apartment of the man suspected of shooting dead 12 people at a Denver cinema.
Former medical student James Holmes has been identified as the masked gunman who burst into a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie and opened fire after first discharging a tear gas grenade.
After the shooting, police went to his apartment but found it filled with trip wires and chemicals, leading to the evacuation of five buildings nearby.
Cassidee Carlson of Aurora police, said security authorities from the local police and FBI, along with bomb disposal experts and firefighters, were now ready to begin what could be a lenghty process of gaining access to the building.
"First and foremost we need to render the area safe," she said. "The most immediate threat is the booby trap, the trip wire we have been talking about over the last day.
She said dealing with this might require a controlled detonation and could possibly cause a small fire.
"Once that trip wire is dealt with, they'll move on to disposal," she added.
"There are incideniary devices inside, including some aerial shells, approximately 30 of those, they'll be removed and placed into sandtrucks and taken to a disposal site.
"At that place there will be a controlled detonation and evidence will be collected."
More to follow...
