go off if you open them? Three victims of the July 20 mass shooting
during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., have
sued the movie theater for negligence because no such alarm went off.
In two federal lawsuits filed Friday, Denise Traynom, Brandon Axelrod
and Joshua Nowlan allege that the exit door the gunman is said to have
used to access the Cinemark USA-owned Century 16 multiplex should have
been equipped with an alarm. Authorities have alleged that suspect
James Holmes, who has been charged with 24 counts of first-degree
murder and 116 counts of attempted murder, entered the theater through
the front but then propped open a rear exit door so that he could go
to his car to grab the assault rifle and handguns used to massacre a
dozen people and injure 58 others.
According to the Denver Post, the suit also alleges that Cinemark
should have employed heightened security for the midnight screening in
the first place. Each plaintiff is seeking at least $750,000 in
damages. The theater chain had no immediate comment, but the complaint
comes just as Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and Cinemark president and CEO
Tim Warner expressed mutual excitement that the Century 16, closed
since the shooting, would be ready to reopen by the beginning of next
year.
"Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those affected by
the tragic events of July 20th," Warner wrote in a letter to Hogan
just yesterday. "We too have been overwhelmed by the spirit of Aurora
which extends to us and to our employees around the world. We will
never forget the victims and their families.
" The letter continued, "It will be our privilege to reopen the
theater. We pledge to reconfigure the space and make the theater
better than ever." In response, the mayor released the following
statement on the city of Aurora's website: "The responses indicate
overwhelming support to reopen the theater with renovations. The
theater has been a valued part of our community for many years, and
just as they have been all along, I am confident Cinemark will
continue to remain sensitive to victims, their families, their
employees and our community throughout their process of remodeling and
reopening.
"We will always remember those who lost their lives and the many
others impacted that day. While no one will ever forget that day, this
is another step in the community's healing." culled from eonline.com