CU-Boulder Student Wears 'Joker' Mask To Movie Theater, Causes Movie-Goers To Flee In Fear

Boulder Teen Wears 'Joker' Mask To Theater, Movie-Goers Flee In Fear

A 17-year-old, part-time CU-Boulder student was arrested on Sunday after he wore a clown hat and a "Joker" mask inside one of the movie theaters at Boulder's Century Theater at Twenty Ninth Street Mall causing movie-goers to flee the theater in fear for their lives, The Daily Camera reports.

The incident struck fear into some of the movie-goers who recalled the horror of the Aurora Century 16 theater massacre. Suspected shooter James Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 more during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," on July 20th in Aurora. Holmes, who had dyed his hair orange-red and who had been quoted by authorities during the time of the shooting as identifying himself as the Batman comic book villian the Joker, according to several media reports.

The Boulder teen, who is not being identified because he is a minor, told police he was aware of the Aurora shooting, but wore the mask to simply scare his friends, 9News reports. The suspect also told police he planned on dressing as the Joker next Halloween.

This is not the first time someone has insensitively referenced the horrific Aurora shootings. In October, Broncos cornerback Tony Carter joked about going to a late night movie on Twitter. According to Fox31, the now-deleted tweet read:

At a late night movie in Denver yall pray for me!

Also in October, an eBay user tried to sell an ultra-realistic James Holmes Halloween mask for $500, Westword first reported. The mask was quickly removed from the auction website.

The Boulder teen was taken to juvenile detention and charged with five counts of misdemeanor menacing.

No weapons were discovered and nobody was injured during the incident.

Before You Go

Rebecca Ann Wingo

The Aurora Theater Shooting Victims

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