AURORA, Colo.
(AP) -- A sports blogger who recently wrote about surviving a shooting
in Canada. A man preparing to celebrate his first wedding anniversary. A
young woman whose death announcement brought heartbreak, yet closure,
to her family.
They were among the 12 people
killed when a gunman barged into a crowded Colorado theater, set off gas
canisters and opened fire as spectators dove for cover. Dozens of
others were injured, including 11 in critical condition.
For
Alex Sullivan, it was to be a weekend of fun: He planned to ring in his
27th birthday with friends at a special midnight showing of "The Dark
Knight Rises" and then celebrate his first wedding anniversary on
Sunday.
Late Friday, Sullivan's family confirmed that police told them he was among those killed.
"He
was a very, very good young man," said Sullivan's uncle, Joe
Loewenguth. "He always had a smile, always made you laugh. He had a
little bit of comic in him. Witty, smart. He was loving, had a big
heart."
Micayla Medek, 23, was also among the dead, her father's cousin, Anita Busch, told the Associated Press.
Busch said the news, while heartbreaking, was a relief for the family after an agonizing day of waiting for news.
"I hope this evil act ... doesn't shake people's faith in God," she said.
A blogger who recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting was also among those killed, the woman's brother said.
The
death of Jessica Ghawi, who was also known as Jessica Redfield, was a
"complete and utter shock," said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.
He
has been using his blog and Twitter account to update what he knew
about his sister's condition throughout the day. He also appeared on the
NBC "Today" show.
Aurora Police Chief Dan
Oates said Friday evening at a press conference that the last of the 10
deceased victims from the midnight showing of a Batman movie was removed
from the theater Friday afternoon.
Oates said officers expected to get a confirmed list of the dead and meet with their families Friday night.
In addition to the 10 people killed at the theater, two others later died from their injuries.
Jordan
Ghawi said on his website that a man who was with his sister at the
theater described the chaos, saying he and Jessica Ghawi dropped to take
cover when the gunman first started shooting. Jessica Ghawi was shot in
the leg, her brother wrote, describing details relayed to him by a man
identified on the blog only as a mutual friend named Brent.
Jessica
Ghawi began screaming when she was shot, and the friend tried to calm
her and stop the bleeding, according to Jordan Ghawi.
The
man was then shot, but he continued attending to Jessica Ghawi's wound
before he realized she had stopped screaming, Jordan Ghawi stated. The
man said Jessica Ghawi had been shot in the head.
Jordan
Ghawi said the friend escaped the theater after being shot twice, but
he was expected to survive. Jordan Ghawi praised the man, saying his
"actions are nothing but heroic."
Jessica
Ghawi, 24, moved to Denver from Texas about a year ago and friends and
colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty.
"She
was always kind of a sponge as far as how she could be an even better
journalist and sports broadcaster," said Peter Burns, a radio sports
show host with Mile High Sports Radio in Denver, where Ghawi recently
interned.
Ghawi blogged at length about
surviving the Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto that killed two
people and sent several others to the hospital. Burns and his
girlfriend, Lauren Anuskewicz, both said the blog reflected everything
she told them.
"She was like, `You guys would never believe what happened,'" Anuskewicz said.
Jessica
Ghawi wrote of the Toronto shooting: "I was shown how fragile life was
on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of
a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't
know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will
breathe our last breath."
Anuskewicz said Jessica Ghawi had been in Toronto visiting a boyfriend and "it obviously was a very scary situation."
"And
to be just so close to it," she added. "It's just impossible to imagine
that not even a month and a half later this would happen, and she would
be involved. It's just awful."
Yet, Burns said, Jessica Ghawi seemed more enlivened than intimidated by surviving that shooting.
"After
the Toronto incident, I think she even looked at that like, `Hey, even
after that, I'm able to pursue my dream,'" he said.
Burns
said he was close to her family. He moved to Denver from Texas a few
years ago and talked with Jessica Ghawi about establishing a sports
radio career there, he said.
Former colleague
Mike Taylor, a sports host at KTKR-AM in San Antonio described how she
reluctantly changed her name for her career, taking the name "Redfield"
as a play on her red hair because it was easier to say than her given
name.
Jessica Ghawi was a prolific social
media user under the new name. Her last tweet stated in all capital
letters, "movie doesn't start for 20 minutes."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
