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Witness: My friends were injured in theater shooting

Posted at 9:52 AM, Jul 20, 2012
and last updated 2012-07-20 09:52:30-04

AURORA, Colorado (WTVR) - One of the witnesses of Friday morning's horrific shooting at a Colorado movie theater is talking about what he saw. 

Donovan Tate, who said he had been looking forward to see  the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" for weeks, said he didn't notice anything suspicious at first.

Tate said everyone was just excited to see the movie. In fact, he said some moviegoers were even dressed up in character-related costumes.

At first, Tate said when he heard a loud popping noise, he thought someone had brought a firecracker to the action movie as a joke.

"It wasn't until the alarm sounded, saying there was an emergency in the building, that I figured out it was something serious," Tate told a KCNC-TV reporter. 

When Tate and his girlfriend made their way out of the building, they quickly realized the severity of what happened. The couple spotted one man, who was down on all fours, crawling to get away. He said he saw one girl spitting up blood and another man, who appeared to be shot in the back, stripped down to his boxer shorts.

Tate said one of his friends, who was seeing the movie, is missing. Tate said A.J., who was with his girlfriend, appeared to pass out inside and that no one has been able to reach him since. 

Additionally, two of Tate's other friends were grazed by bullets. He said one was grazed on his neck and another on her leg.

Tate's mom said she didn't want her son to go to the midnight movie showing, but he told her that he had already bought the tickets. 

"Mom, I gotta go see Batman," Tate said he told his mother.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Gunman opens fire in Colorado movie theater

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for the latest on this developing story.