SplashPeople are breathing easier in one Denver, neighborhood. That's because Dark Knight Rising massacre suspect James Holmes' booby-trapped apartment has been officially cleared, according to the Aurora, Colo., Police Department.
Aurora police informed residents, locals and followers of the James Holmes Dark Knight Rises tragedy via Twitter Saturday that "All hazards have been removed from the Paris Street location" in which Holmes was residing.
The authorities also informed those who occupy areas surrounding Holmes' apartment building that they can return.
Although residents living in the shooter's building can't come home quite yet, authorities have successfully removed all hazards from the suspect's apartment. According to a police press conference held this afternoon, Holmes' unit contained multiple threats of booby traps along with IEDs, trip wires and accelerants with trigger mechanisms.
Entry into the rigged apartment was made by a robot controlled by a bomb tech, because, according to Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates, "This apartment was designed to kill whoever entered it….who was most likely to enter it? A police officer. Make no mistake what was going on there."
Kaitlyn Fonzi, an unsuspecting 20-year-old student who lives below Holmes, was also a potential victim to the entryway booby trap.
Fonzi said that after being irritated by techno music blasting from Holmes' apartment at midnight Thursday, she attempted to confront him by yelling that she was going to call the cops. Yet, upon realizing the door was unlocked, Fonzi trusted her instinct to not open the door and returned to her apartment—a move that no doubt saved her life.
Fonzi tells CNN her decision to return to her apartment has her "counting my lucky stars."
Two devices constructed by the shooter in the unit were intentionally and safely detonated at the site by explosives experts.
As for how Holmes acquired the materials to booby trap his apartment and allegedly conduct the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, authorities revealed that a number of packages were recently delivered to the suspect's apartment and school address, which may have contained the ammunition and weapons accessories he obtained on the internet.
The University of Colorado Police Department deployed bomb dogs and searched buildings on the adjacent medical campus as a precaution, to ensure that there were no hazards left by the suspect. Nothing was found, and no radioactive materials or biohazards are missing from the facilities.
Dateline's Chris Hansen discloses details on the interior of Holmes' apartment from law enforcement video (airing Sunday).
"In the middle of his living room are dozens of black softball shaped firework shells that he bought filled with explosive power," he said. "They are all over the place. In the middle there are two jars full of liquid wires as I said all over the place there was a black box with a red blinking light. A mechanical camera then pans over on top of a glass table—you see this water cooler jug half full of bullet. Then you pan down, then you see this black box with another red blinking light. The camera goes over, there are two chairs one has a jar apparently with fluid. The other has another black box and then there are green soda pop bottles filled with fluid all the way around."
Holmes, who surrendered outside the movie theater exit to police after the shooting, was booked into the county's detention facility on Friday afternoon, according to Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
The 24-year-old suspect's legal representative is James O'Connor, head of the public defender's office that covers the 18th Judicial District.
Holmes is being held without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder, with an advisement hearing scheduled for Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the Arapahoe County Courts in Centennial, Colo., where prosecutors have 72 hours to file charges.
Meanwhile, according to a White House official, President Barack Obama is scheduled to travel to Colorado Sunday to visit with victims of Friday's shooting and their families and confer with state and local officials.