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An Aurora Police officer talks on his radio outside of the Century 16 theater at Aurora Mall where as many as 14 people were killed and many injured at a shooting at the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., Friday, July 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

By Jillian Raftery, MyNorthwest.com editor

After the Columbine High School shootings in April of 1999, Denver-area police radically changed how they respond to public shootings. The shooting in Aurora, Colorado on Friday morning may have been even more deadly had police officers not responded so quickly to 911 calls.

“After Columbine, the City of Denver, the hospitals, the police all worked with federal authorities to really change the police approach and EMT approach to mass shootings,” Ron said Friday, following the shooting at Denver-suburb movie theater.

Before Columbine, police would create a perimeter and surround the shooter so that the suspect couldn’t run away. Police realized that after Columbine, shooters may not stop when they are cornered. Now they always go in, as soon as they hear shooting.

“Now, after what happened at Columbine, they always go in, they always go in as soon as they hear those gunshots. They put their lives on the line. And again, when others are rushing out, they go in,” said Don.

The police response in this case was immediate. Shortly after police arrived, EMT responders were also on the scene to help wounded.

“They had people on the scene within 90 seconds, and then they had 200 responders that went to that theater,” said Ron. In minutes, 200 first responders were there to assist law enforcement with casualties.

Officers in SWAT gear poured into the theater, leading moviegoers out to safety and getting wounded people to ambulances.

“And let’s not forget, so he has this AR-15, which is the civilian version of the military M-16, it’s semiautomatic and he had a canister of bullets attached to it, 100 rounds in there,” said Don. “Plus, he had two other guns including a Glock .40.”

Just seven minutes after the first calls, police had shooter James Holmes in custody.

According to witnesses, Holmes had stopped shooting and may have run out of ammunition. He was going out the back door to his white Hyundai when police arrested him.

Reports say that he offered no resistance and that he was cooperating with police immediately after the shooting. Later, after Holmes told police that his apartment was booby-trapped, Holmes stopped cooperating.

There are conflicting reports as to what James Holmes was doing when he was arrested. Some say he was sitting in his car waiting, while other reports say that he was sitting on the ground outside of his car. Some are speculating that he may have been going back to his car for the second Glock .40, in an effort to kill more of the wounded people left in the theater.

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