Police and federal law enforcement authorities are looking for a man they are calling a “person of interest” in the Colorado massacre investigation.
Sources tell FOX31 Denver reporter Justin Joseph that a second man is now a person-of-interest in the Aurora theater shooting investigation. We are not disclosing his identity because he has not been charged.
Twelve people were killed and 58 injured early Friday when James Egan Holmes allegedly opened fire inside the crowded theater.
Neighbors of the person of interest say for the past two days there have been SWAT team and police cars in their alley and unmarked cars in street.
“He’s been there about a year,” said one neighbor.
Agents showed up again this morning.
“I woke up this morning with cops still here trying to look inside his home. At 5:00 a.m. cops showed-up and asked me about (him).”
Sources tell Justin Joseph someone made either a call or a text from the person of interest’s phone threatening violence if James Egan Holmes was not released from jail. That call prompted police to issue an alert to find and detain him.
Sources also say a picture of Holmes with red hair on an adult website is what Egan looked like when he was arrested.
Neighbors recognized him instantly but they say he recently dyed his hair.
“I`ve seen him before,” said a neighbor to the person of interest.
The person of interest’s Facebook page shows he has a master’s degree in bio-medical science.
Anshutz Medical Center confirms he is in their doctorate program, the same program from which Holmes withdrew several months ago.
Out of caution police searched their campus Friday, but they won’t say what if anything they were looking for or found.
As for the person of interest, all law enforcement jurisdictions, local, state and federal, are looking for him.
Neighbors say he and his roommate left their home hours before the massacre. They haven’t seen him since.
Two crazies? That’s not very likely, especially since we’re not exactly sure how crazy the alleged shooter, James Holmes, might be. It appears that the massacre was meticulously planned for months, and was hardly a spur of the moment action. While planning such a horrific act does not necessarily denote rationality, it certainly will make it harder for Holmes to use an insanity defense at his trial.
As for the person of interest, there have been questions about how Holmes was able to enter through a locked emergency door that only opened from the inside. Police weren’t commenting at the time, but the possibility of an accomplice makes sense in that context.
Update
The Aurora police chief is denying the Fox Denver report of another “person of interest:”
Aurora police chief Daniel Oates rejected media reports that a second person of interest is associated with Friday’s massacre in Colorado. He said James Holmes is the only suspect responsible but they are interested in speaking to anyone who knows or has had contact with Holmes.
“All the evidence we have, every single indicator, is that… this is all Mr. Holmes’ activity and that he wasn’t particularly aided by anyone else,” Oates said in an exclusive interview Sunday on “Face the Nation. “We’re building a case to show that this was a deliberative process by a very intelligent man who wanted to do this.”
Oates said the person brought in to be questioned on Saturday “was a casual consequence.”
“The relationship was real inconsequential,” he said. “[I]t’s really an inconsequential matter.”
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