Theater shooting victims are 4 months old to adults

DENVER - Emergency rooms sprung to action minutes after a gunman opened fire on an Aurora theater full of moviegoers, killing 12 and injuring 58.

There were so many victims in Friday morning's shooting that victims were sent to six different hospitals.

The injured range in age from 4 months old to 45 years old.

Some of the victims are Air Force personnel. One is a student at the University of Colorado. Another is an aspiring writer who recently interned at a Denver radio station.

Very few of the victims' names have been released.

Alex Sullivan was identified as one of the victims in the Aurora theater shooting.
One of the victims was celebrating his 27th birthday. Alex Sullivan tweeted before the movie: "One hour until the movie. This will be the best birthday ever!"

Another victim was Jessica Ghawi, an aspiring writer who blogged as Jessica Redfield was at the Eaton Center in Toronto. She had previously worked as a sports intern at several sports outlets in Denver.

At the Medical Center of Aurora, the hospital closest to the Century 16 Theater, trauma doctors and nurses sprung to action within the first 20 minutes of the shooting.

Eighteen victims were taken to the Aurora hospital. Many were in surgery within 30 to 40 minutes of arrival, said Dr. James Denton.

Officials from The Medical Center said that three more injured people from shooting showed up Friday afternoon.

Police officers were the first to the scene of the shooting at the theater near the Aurora Mall.

Not willing to wait for ambulances, some officers loaded victims into their patrol cars and drove them to hospitals.

"Their decision to load patients and bring them immediately might have saved some lives," Denton said.

Injuries ranged from gunshot wounds to the head and neck to "extensive wounds to extremities," said Denton.

As of 7 p.m., seven victims have been admitted. Four are in the intensive care unit, and two are listed in critical condition, Denton said.

Nurses and doctors from surrounding hospitals not already receiving patients called to offer their help, Denton said.

There have been no fatalities at the Medical Center of Aurora, and eight people have been treated and released.

23 Victims Sent to CU Hospital

The majority of victims were sent to the University of Colorado Hospital, which activated its disaster plan at 1 a.m.

"The entire emergency department staff was called in," said Dr. Comilla Sasson.

University Hospital said while its emergency room was full before the shooting occurred, it still took 23 victims.

The victims' injuries include gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries, Sasson said.

Five people are in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Erika Matich. Ten people have been treated and released, she said.

The 4-month-old boy treated at the hospital was not shot, but hospital officials would not describe his injuries. Sasson said he and his mother were treated and released.

"We are, like the whole community, shocked and horrified by this senseless, tragic act," University of Colorado Hospital President and CEO John P. Harney said. "Our thoughts and prayers have been with the victims and their families, and we have been working hard to provide maximum support as well as care to them."

The boy's age was originally given as 3 months.

Seven of the injured were undergoing treatment Friday night.

Other Hospitals Help Treat Victims

A spokeswoman for Swedish Hospital said the hospital went on alert at 1:15 a.m. and began calling in extra staff.

Swedish Hospital received three patients, all of them with gunshot wounds. Two patients were in surgery as of 4 a.m. Those victims were a 20-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man. Both were in critical condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

The third victim was treated and released.

Children's Hospital told 7NEWS it is treating six victims from the theaters. They range in age from 6 years old to 31 years old.

Denver Health Medical Center treated seven victims from the Aurora shooting. At 10:40 a.m., four patients were in fair condition. Three had been treated and released.