Another gun massacre in the U.S., this one bigger than usual. 14 dead and about 50 wounded at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie, which opens today. The movie is expected to be the blockbuster of the year and opened with midnight showings around the country. (My younger daughter was at one of them, although fortunately not this one). At a multiplex in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, a heavily armed man, reportedly dressed in black and wearing a mask, entered through a side door, tossed a smoke bomb into the theater, and started shooting. This happened just a few hours ago and details are still emerging.

The parallels between the event and the movie series are a little eerie. A mask, a sudden attack terrifying citizens, mass carnage. It seems like a scene straight from a Batman movie. Except it wasn't up on the screen, it was in the theater. And there was no Batman to swoop down and stop him.

Aurora is on the southeast edge of the Denver metro area, about 25 miles from Columbine High School. Maybe that Rocky Mountain air is a little too thin.