City of Aurora Asks Judge to Lift Gag over Theater Shooting

Wants to allow first responders to be able to talk now that preliminary hearings are over

The Colorado city of Aurora has asked a judge presiding over the criminal case of last summer's movie theater massacre to lift a gag order barring police and emergency personnel from publicly discussing the rampage, a court filing made public on Wednesday showed.

Days after the July 20 shooting in which 12 died and dozens wounded, Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester imposed a court order prohibiting any party involved in the case, including law enforcement, from talking about it in the media.

Former graduate student James Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the shooting spree at a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."