Originally published July 20, 2012 at 9:09 PM | Page modified July 21, 2012 at 10:50 AM
Corrected version
The show goes on at Seattle-area theaters
Several cities around the country, including New York and Los Angeles, stepped up police patrols at showings of the highly anticipated "Batman" blockbuster after the mass shooting in Colorado. Seattle police said the department would not deploy officers to screenings.
Seattle Times staff reporter
MEHDI TAAMALLAH / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
An officer stands outside a movie theater Friday in New York during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" as police provide what they call "a precaution against copycats."
Seattle crowds flocked to opening-day showings of the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," saddened but undeterred by the midnight-screening massacre in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and 58 wounded.
Several cities around the country, including New York and Los Angeles, were posting police officers at Friday showings of the blockbuster. Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson said the department would not deploy officers to screenings.
"We don't want people to read too much into this," he said. "It is an isolated incident, and the best advice, if you see something suspicious, report it."
At Pacific Science Center, where every showing this weekend at the IMAX Theater is sold out, off-duty Seattle police officers are providing extra security on top of the center's private security, said Michal Anderson, chief financial and operating officer for the Pacific Science Center.
The arrangement is typical for any busy weekend, she said.
The national chain AMC Theaters said in a statement it was also reinforcing security measures and will forbid patrons from wearing face-covering masks or costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable.
The suspected gunman, identified by police as James Holmes, entered the theater wearing a gas mask and body armor.
Many moviegoers outside the Pacific Science Center said they were shocked by the shooting.
"It is just unfair," said Casey Shirks, of Tacoma, who drove with his friend, Nathaniel Davies, to see the film in IMAX. "There were kids there."
Davies said he would be "more hesitant" to go to a midnight showing.
Mark Trono, of Seattle, said he didn't think about the Colorado shooting until a scene in the film when the villain, Bane, shoots indiscriminately into a crowd with an automatic weapon.
"(The Colorado shooting) will make the scene a little bit more grim," he said.
Trono said he heard about the shooting before he left for the theater and considered skipping the showing, but ultimately decided to go: "I thought — this is Seattle."
Javier Panzar: 206-464-2253 or @jpanzar@seattletimes.com.
On Twitter @jpanzar.
Information in this article, originally published July 20, 2012, was corrected July 21, 2012. In a previous version of this story, Michal Anderson was referred to as "he." Anderson is a woman.
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