National News
Remembering Victims Of Aurora Shooting
By LaDale Anderson
Jul 22, 2012 - 1:33:39 PM

COLORADO—Twelve people were killed when an unsuspecting gunman walked into midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” early Friday morning and opened fire. The victims ranged in age from 6 to 51.  

Alex Sullivan, 27, was celebrating his 27th birthday when he was killed and was just days away from celebrating his first wedding anniversary. Just a mere hour before the incident, Sullivan had tweeted from his Twitter account the following message, “Oh man one hour till the movie and its going to be the best BIRTHDAY ever.” 

 

Matthew McQuinn

Matthew McQuinn, 27, attended the screening with his girlfriend Samantha Yowler and her brother Nick Yowler. McQuinn is being heralded as a hero after jumping on top of his girlfriend to protect her from the gunshots. He attended Vandalia Butler High School in Ohio and just recently moved to Colorado in November. 

Samantha listed the following quote on her Facebook page: “Heaven is not a place you go when you die it’s the moment in life where you actually feel alive.”

John Larimer, 27, served in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Aurora, CO. His family released the following statement: “We love you John and we will miss you always.” He attended Crystal Lake High School where a flag flies at half-staff in his honor.

John Larimer

Micayla Medek, 23, a graduate of Hinkley High School, was attending school at the Community College of Aurora. "I'm a simple independent girl who's just trying to get her life together while still having fun,” she wrote on her Facebook profile.

AJ Boik, 18, was a graduate of Gateway High School where he played baseball. His family released the following statement: “AJ was a wonderful handsome and loving eighteen year-old man with a warm and loving heart.”

 

AJ Boik

Jesse Childress, 29 was an Air Force reservist and cyber systems operator.  “Jesse was an invaluable part of the 310th family. He literally touched everyone in the wing ― over 1,000 people,” said Lt. Col. Pat Walsh.

Jonathan Blunk, 26, was attending the screening with his girlfriend, Jansen Young, when he used himself as a human shield to protect her. Blunk leaves behind his estranged wife Chantal, and two children.

The youngest victim in the shooting was 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan who was at the theater with her mother, Ashley, 25, who was injured during the incident. She is currently in the hospital recovering from shots to her throat and abdomen.

Alexander C. Teves, 24, was a graduate of Desert Vista High School in Tempe, Arizona and was a graduate student at the University of Denver.   Teves is also being praised as a hero after blocking a bullet that was aimed at his girlfriend.

Micayla Medek

Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32, was a mother of two little girls. She was attending the Community College of Aurora and is originally from Quinlan, Texas. Her father, Steve Hernandez, wrote the following post on his daughter’s 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. Lord why, why, why???? I sit here resist this entry however I feel I must, in disgust, in dismay, in prayer, I love you my daughter Rebecca, we all will miss you” [sic].

Gordon W. Cowden, 51, was the oldest victim of the shootings who attended the screening with his two teenage daughters. Both were unharmed in the incident.

Jessica Redfield

Jessica Ghawi, 24, an aspiring sports writer, who also went by the name Jessica Redfield, recently escaped tragedy less than a month ago at a food court shooting in Toronto. She took to her blog “A Run On Of Thoughts” to write about the incident on June 5, 2012. 

“I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.”

Ghawi had even tweeted before the incident from her Twitter account @JessicaRedfield writing the following: “Of course we’re seeing Dark Knight. Redheaded Texan Spitfire, people should never argue with me. Maybe I should get in on those NHL talks…”

Canyon News extends our condolences to the families of the victims. We are keeping everyone in our prayers.