Aurora Colorado

In the early hours of July 20, 2012, moviegoers at the Aurora Century 16 in Colorado were settling into their seats for the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” when a masked gunman opened fire on the crowd. Dressed from head to toe in ballistic gear and a long black coat, gunman James Holmes killed 12 and wounded 53. This tragic event has been called the worst mass shooting in American history. Holmes was apprehended a mere 8 minutes later by two officers who made an immediate observation that his attire did not match the SWAT team present in that community. Later, it was determined that Holmes had booby-trapped his apartment with 30 explosive devices.

The response to this event by law enforcement, emergency management systems, and local hospitals has been described by some as quick and efficient. In this final assignment, you will analyze the Aurora movie theater shooting and focus on the roles that various criminal justice agencies played in the management of this crisis.

•  Using the Aurora, Colorado, shooting as a case study, prepare a research paper that addresses the role of criminal justice organizations in the management of a crisis.
•  Research the response to the shooting by all organizations as well as the role that criminal justice agencies played.
•  What lessons are learned from the Aurora shooting for homeland security, emergency management and the various criminal justice organizations?
•  Your analysis must be comprehensive and include all levels of crisis response.

The final case study paper should include the following:

•  a research statement
•  a literature review to support or refute your research statement
•  final conclusions regarding the current state of knowledge of your topic.