Twitter shocked at Batman premiere shooting

At least 14 people have been shot dead during a premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in the US state of Colorado.

According to UK newspaper The Independent, there may have been two gunmen, wearing body armour and was wearing a gas mask started shooting people in the theatre about 30 minutes into the film.

One has reportedly been arrested while a hunt is on for the other. According to Sky News reporter Brenda Stuart, the scene is still chaotic, and “police officers are taking people to hospital themselves, not waiting for ambulances.”

CBSS news reports that explosives have been found at the home of one of the suspects:

The news quickly spread across Twitter, where most expressed shock at what had happened:

One user wondered whether the shooting may have been inspired by Batman arch-enemy The Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger in the previous film:

Another compared the gunmen to the current movie’s villain Bane:

A Reddit user who claimed to have at the theatre posted the following account of what happened:

Boyfriend and I have evacuated safe and sound. The shooting began during a gunfight scene in the movie, and at first, we thought it was special effects when smoke rose up. When shots happened again and people began to run, we thought something was up. A guy ran in and shouted there was a gunman in the building, and the alarms to emergency evacuate started to go off.

I now know what tear gas feels like. I’ve never had to ‘get down’ with a police officer screaming at us. This is the most fucked up night of my short life. I need an army of kitten photos stat.

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