Colorado shooting through the Police radio communications. Scanner captured the moments after the tragedy unfolded.

On Jul. 20, 2012, suspected gunman James Holmes allegedly killed at least 12 people and wounded 59 others during the midnight premier of the new Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, a suburb of Denver.

All U.S. media outlets provide a detailed description of the slaughter. You can read the first interesting analysis of the mass shooting on Wired Danger Room, whereas if you want to get some “active shooter scenario” advice from a Navy SEAL to prevent yourself from becoming an easy target at sporting events, concerts, and movies, you’ll find this SOFREP article particularly useful.

But, what happened in those chaotic moments at the local police station?

The following audio (made available through a video uploaded to Youtube) captured the moments after the tragedy unfolded when police officers, trying to remain as calm as possible, try to manage the rescue efforts.

At 1:30 min you’ll hear one of them trying to find out when an injured pregnant woman was transported to.

Unencrypted radio comms broadcast on known frequencies were recorded by local radiohams/monitors using a scanner radio in the same way many aircraft enthusiasts and spotters listen to civil and military plane movements all around the world on both VHF, UHF, HF bands.

Among all the others, the mass shooting claimed the lives of two U.S. military serving at Buckley Air Force Base: a sailor and an airman.

H/T to Allan Stern for the heads-up

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.