DENVER ( KDVR ) — A U.S. Navy veteran. A recent graduate of Gateway High School. An Air Force Staff Sergeant. An aspiring sports reporter.
These are just a few of the lives taken in a mass shooting on July 20, 2012, and on Saturday, a midnight vigil will give space for community members to remember and grieve the 12 people killed at an Aurora movie theater .
It was 12 years ago that a gunman shot at attendees at a midnight movie, injuring at least 70 and killing 12, including a 6-year-old girl who had just learned to swim and a 51-year-old whose two teenage children escaped the gunfire unharmed. Some of those injured were paralyzed, and countless others in the packed theater still bear invisible wounds of emotional trauma.
July 20 has since been marked as National Heroes Day , with Coloradans taking the day to honor the victims and first responders, particularly the four people who were shielding others when they were killed: Jonathan Blunk, John Larimer, Matt McQuinn and Alex Teves.