AURORA, Colo. (AP) – A gunman wearing a gas mask and black SWAT gear hurled a gas canister inside a crowded movie theater during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday and then opened fire, killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60 others in an attack so bizarre that some moviegoers at first thought they were watching Hollywood special effects.

As smoke from the canister spread, audience members watching “The Dark Knight Rises” at the suburban Denver theater saw the silhouette of a person materialize near the screen, point a gun at the crowd and begin shooting, apparently without a word.

New York City’s police commissioner said he was told the gunman had painted his hair red and called himself the Joker – Batman’s nemesis – but Aurora police would not confirm that.