3 wounded in 'Batman' shooting sue

DENVER (AP) — Relatives of those killed at a Colorado movie theater rejected an invitation Wednesday to attend its planned reopening, calling it a "disgusting offer" that came at a terrible time — right after the first Christmas without their loved ones.

DENVER — The father of a man killed in the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater says he’ll be present at the reopening, even though his daughter-in-law and relatives of some other victims are refusing to go. Tom Sullivan wrote a column published in Friday’s Denver Post saying his son, Alex, would want him to be there. Alex Sullivan was among 12 people killed in the July 20 attack.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Nearly six months after a bloody rampage in a Colorado movie theater left 12 people dead, prosecutors will go to court Monday to outline their case against the suspect, James Holmes. Holmes is charged with more than 160 counts, including murder and attempted murder. Investigators say he was wearing body armor and a gas mask when he tossed two gas canisters and then opened fire in a theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora on July 20. A midnight showing of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” had just begun.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — An elaborate booby trap system allegedly set up to pull police away from the Colorado theater shooting included improvised napalm and thermite, which burns so hot that water can’t put out the blaze. FBI bomb technician Garrett Gumbinner described the system Tuesday at a hearing in which prosecutors laid out their case against suspected gunman James Holmes.

Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty – a deal that would bring a swift end to the sometimes wrenching courtroom battle and circumvent a prolonged debate over his sanity. Prosecutors haven’t said whether they would accept the offer, and victims and survivors of last summer’s massacre were divided on what should be done. Melisa Cowden, whose ex-husband was killed in the theater, said Wednesday she was resolutely opposed to a plea deal.

AURORA, Colo. — A gunman barricaded inside his Colorado home fired shots at police from a second-story window before he was killed as SWAT officers stormed the home Saturday. Once inside, they found the bodies of three other adults, authorities said. The suspect, whose name was withheld by police, held officers at bay for nearly six hours after neighbours reported gunfire at 3 a.m. inside the modest townhome in the Denver suburb of Aurora, said police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson. It wasn’t known if officers shot the suspect or if he shot himself.