Mother of Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes speaks out

Arlene Holmes, mother of Aurora gunman James Holmes

(Image credit: Screenshot/KGTV San Diego)

published 14 May 2016

The mother of James Holmes, the gunman who fatally shot 12 people and injured 70 others in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in 2012, spoke out about the incident for the first time Friday. In an interview with KGTV San Diego, Arlene Holmes said she thinks often about the victims, who were attending a midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.

"They're on my mind every day. It's the first thought when I wake up in the morning. I'm very cognizant of how bad this all was, and I'm praying for their healing: mentally, physically, emotionally," Holmes said. "I can't erase the day but I wish I could. The way that I want to honor their injuries and their distress is to try and help prevent something this bad from happening again."

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.

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