RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - A Colorado man talked to CBS 6 News senior reporter Wayne Covil about what he witnessed inside the movie theater where a deadly mass shooting took pace early Friday morning.
The tragedy unfolded during a midnight premier of the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” at the Century 16 theaters at an Aurora, Colorado mall.
Twenty-three-year-old Sean Woten told Covil that he was in the theater with his girlfriend, Heather Ford, for about 30 minutes before he heard something strange.
"We didn't really know what the noise was. It came from the right side of the room -- and caught all of our attention, so we looked," said Woten. "At first, we just saw the black shadow of a body. "
Woten said he first thought it might be something related to the movie, someone pulling a prank, since it was the premier of the Batman film.
However, Woten said he knew it wasn't a joke when the figure tossed something into the air that had a stream of smoke coming from it. Then it hit the ground and popped -- and then the figure began firing what Woten described as a shotgun.
That's when he shoved his girlfriend to the floor and the couple, along with some friends, rushed to get out of the theater.
"He kept shooting as we were running away," said Woten.
When the couple finally made it to their SUV, they climbed inside and sped away. Only later did they meet up with police.
Wooten said his girlfriend got pretty roughed up in the melee. He said she has some carpet burns on her body and bruises on her knee and face.
Wooten said he was at first extremely angry about what happened. But after talking with friends and family, he realized how lucky he and his girlfriend were to have escaped unharmed.
At last check, 10 people were killed inside the theater. Another two people died in area hospitals. Additionally, 58 people were wounded in the mass shooting.
The suspected gunman was arrested without incident outside the theater.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Mass shooting inside Colorado movie theater
