Police cordon off an scene at a movie theater where a shooting killed 14 people wounded 50 others during a showing of new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Denver in the early hours of Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

People Screaming

Police spokesman Frank Fania said the suspect was thought to be in his early 20s. He was carrying a knife, a rifle and a handgun when arrested, and one other gun was recovered from the theater. The gunman was also wearing a bulletproof vest.

"He did not resist, he did not put up a fight," Fania said.

Police said the suspect's apartment building had been evacuated and police were looking for explosives there after the suspect made statements about explosives in his residence.

CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a "guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people." Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion.

Chandler Brannon, 25, who had been watching the movie with his girlfriend, said that about 20 minutes into the movie he saw a smoke bomb go off and heard what sounded like fireworks. He later realized they were a rapid volley of gunshots.

"I told my girlfriend to just play dead," he told Reuters, adding that he never got a full view of the gunman. "All I could see was a silhouette."

Another witness told CNN he heard 10-20 shots and what he described as little explosions. "Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out," the witness said.

"As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming." He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask.

One man told an NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theater filled with thick, choking smoke.

He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded. "I heard moaning ... they were in pain."

Fania said police received the first call about the shooting at 12:39 am local time (06:39 GMT) and responded within "a minute or two."

Local hospitals were alerted to a "mass casualty incident."  Fania told NBC News that 10 of the victims died in the theater and two died in the hospital.