Jessica Ghawi (24)
Just weeks ago Jessica Ghawi walked out of a Toronto shopping-mall food court moments before a gunman shot seven people. Writing as Jessica Redfield in a June 5th blog entry, she described how the experience reminded her “how blessed I am for each second I am given”. She worked as a waitress but wanted to become a sports journalist. Late Thursday night, as she waited for the show to start in sold-out theatre nine, she tweeted her excitement and impatience, and ribbed friends who weren’t there.“MOVIE DOESN’T START FOR 20 MINUTES,” she tweeted before midnight.
Veronica Moser-Sullivan (6)
The “vibrant, excitable” blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl, was bragging five days ago about learning how to swim, said her great-aunt Annie Dalton.
Veronica’s mother, Ashley Moser, remains in critical condition at Aurora Medical Center. The 25-year-old was shot in the neck, and doctors have been unable to remove the bullet. She also suffered a gunshot wound in the abdomen.
Rebecca Wingo (32)
Steve Hernandez, the father of Rebecca Wingo, wrote on his Facebook page: “I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable, I hear she died instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable”. Wingo had been enrolled at the Community College of Aurora since 2009 and had been working toward an associate of arts degree.
Alexander J Boik (18)
About 500 people gathered for a memorial service at Gateway High School on Saturday evening to remember recent graduate AJ.
Boik was a talented artist who had been bound for college in the autumn. “He was a very big part of this community,” said Tami Avery (41), whose son played sports with Boik. “He will be dearly missed.”
Jesse Childress (29)
Childress had served in the US army before joining the Air Force Reserves. On the night of the shooting two friends had tickets to The Dark Knight Rises in theatre eight, and tried to convince Childress to sneak in from theatre nine to join them. Childress declined in order to stay with another friend. One friend in screen eight said Childress was fatally wounded when he dived in front of the friend, a female air force member from Buckley air force base in Aurora.
Gordon Cowden (51)
Gordon Cowden had taken his two teenage children to the theatre on the night of the shooting. The teenagers escaped unharmed.
Alexander Teves (24)
Alexander Teves recently earned his master’s degree in counselling psychology from the University of Denver. The university officially notified its students and faculty of Teves’s death on Saturday afternoon. The university released the following statement: “The university extends its deepest condolences to his family and friends, including the many current students and faculty who knew and worked with Alex.”
Alex Sullivan (27)
Late on Thursday, Alex Sullivan posted on his Facebook page: “TheDarkKnightRises OMG COUNTING down till it starts cant wait going to be the best birthday ever.” Sullivan died on his 27th birthday.
He and co-workers from a Red Robin restaurant had gone to the premiere. Sullivan was killed, and seven co-workers were injured. Yesterday would have been his first wedding anniversary.
The morning after the shooting, Alex Sullivan’s father, Tom, showed his picture around and asked if anybody had seen his son, an image that reminded some of 9/11.
Matt McQuinn (27)
As the gunman walked up the aisle of the cinema on Friday firing at moviegoers, the 27-year-old Ohio native dived on top of his girlfriend Samantha Yowler. Her brother Nick (32), also tried to shield her, said Robert L Scott, attorney for the McQuinn and Yowler families.
Samantha Yowler (27)was shot in the knee. Her brother escaped without injury. But McQuinn, from St Paris, Ohio, was not as fortunate.
Matt McQuinnmet Yowler while the two were working at a branch of the discount retail store Target, in Springfield. In November, the couple transferred to a Target store in Denver, joining Yowler's brother, who had lived in Colorado for the past few years.
John Larimer (27)
Navy officials confirmed over the weekend that petty officer third class John Thomas Larimer was among those killed in the attack.
He joined the navy in June 2011 and was a cryptologic technician. For the past year, he had been stationed at the US fleet cyber command station at Buckley air force base.
A family member said Larimer was the youngest of five siblings.
Micayla Medek (23)
Micayla Medek worked as a Subway “sandwich artist”. She attended the midnight showing of the new Batman movie with friends and was wounded. Nearly 20 hours passed before authorities confirmed to the family that she was one of the 12 killed in the shooting.
Jon Blunk (26)
Jon Blunk had gone to the cinema with his girlfriend Jansen Young (21) and reportedly threw her on the floor when he heard shooting.
A separated father of two, Blunk enlisted in the navy and served aboard the USS Nimitz in San Diego. He left the navy, separated from his wife and moved to Colorado in 2009. He had been working at a hardware store.