Explosive material removed from suspect's apt.

Updated 11:02 PM ET

(CBS/AP) AURORA, Colo. - Authorities on Saturday removed dangerous explosive materials from inside James Holmes' suburban Denver apartment a day after police said he opened fire and set off gas canisters in a suburban theater minutes into the premiere of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises." The attack left 12 people dead and 58 injured.

His apartment was rigged with jars of liquids, explosives and chemicals that were booby trapped to kill "whoever entered it," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said, noting it would have likely been one of his officers.

All hazards have been removed from the Holmes' apartment and residents in surrounding buildings can return home, police said.

The exception was Holmes' apartment building, where authorities were still collecting evidence. Inside the apartment, authorities began covering the windows with black plastic to prevent onlookers from seeing in. Before they did, a man in an ATF T-shirt could be seen measuring a poster on a closet that advertised a DVD called "Soldiers of Misfortune." The poster showed several figures in various positions playing paintball, some wearing masks.

Earlier, bomb technicians were successful in deactivating an explosive device installed in the apartment.

A law enforcement official, citing the ongoing investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press and said officers disarmed one explosive with a "water shot" - a device that emits a shock wave and water,

Officers are evaluating a second disarmed explosive with a robot-mounted video camera.

Earlier Saturday, bomb experts executed a controlled detonation of a triggering device in the apartment.

The bomb crews were faced with deactivating an explosives-laden booby trap that had been set up in the home of James Holmes. Examination of the explosives by bomb experts from the FBI Lab in Quantico, Va., revealed that a trip wire (possibly fishing line) was set up to trigger a liquid container to mix with another, setting off the main charge of the device, which may be additional flammable liquids.

Also in the apartment were about 30 aerial shells (or fireworks) the size of softballs, black in color and made of mostly rubber. They are believed to be filled with smokeless powder. Depending on how the powder was packed, the devices could either detonate or just burn.

Outside the apartment, police arranged plastic storage boxes and large white plastic bags, possibly for evidence, although no officials were available to confirm the purpose of the containers.

Police said the apartment was rigged to detonate on a presumed police entry when the suspect set up loud music to be playing, while he was on his way to the movie theater. First responders would then be sent to the apartment, on the opposite side of town where the gunman planned to wage his assault.

Having evacuated the apartment complex, police this morning were seen towing vehicles away to clear the immediate area. Bomb technicians on a fire truck's crane were seen maneuvering a triggering device through the broken window of the apartment.

Shortly afterwards, a sire sounded, and a muffled boom was heard.

19 Photos

The Colorado massacre suspect

Rendering the apartment safe for entry is an enormously dangerous mission. About 100 personnel are on the scene, including firefighters, ATF and FBI bomb technicians, and chemists to assess the risks of potential accelerants seen inside.

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Cops may set off suspect's booby traps
Police: Colo. shooter set up elaborate bomb in apt. as distraction

57 Photos

Shooting rampage in Colo. theater

[EmtFF10]

"Bomb technicians on a fire truck's crane were seen maneuvering a triggering device through the broken window of the apartment."
On a Fire Truck's Crane?? Where in the world do some of these reporters get their information on things?? There is NO Fire Dept that has a "crane"!! PLEASE get your information straight before publishing it!! The fire truck they were using is called a few different names such Aerial Platform, Bucket or Tower not a crane!!!

[Jhihmoac]

Good to know they diffused his apartment...It's bad enough there are the shooting victims at the theatre...Adding first responders to this psycho's kill list would've really fanned an already angry fire...

[ednorton1]

How about this idea. Have a lynching for Mr Holmes in front of Aurora city hall. Sell Tickets for event, and have proceeds go to families, victims, and to help pay for all tax payers $$ that have to go towards police overtime, etc. Even televise event!Show it before each Batman movie.

[juststandingherealone]

My heart goes out to the folks there. He was just acting upon what he had learned form the 24/7 news coverage from past attacks like this. He could have killed just as many people with his car running into them in the parking lot, and that he could have done with no planning at all, and no guns or ammo. This psyhco was created by the News Media, who slosh through the blood of victims to get ratings and push a Leftist gun control agenda. They gave him all the info he needed and now are rewarding him with a world stage to inflict as much damage on our free and open society as he can. The blood is on the News Media's hands but they will hide behind their right of freedom of the Press, and use it as a weapon against law abiding citizen's right to keep and bear arms.

[naksuthin]

Why bother to spend time mourning over this senseless event???

A mentally disturbed individual walks into a gunstore, legally buys weapons, walks into a theater, a beauty parlor, a high school, a university, an office building, a factory, a fast food joint etc. etc. and shoots to death 3-5-10-12-15-20-30 (pick the number that suits you best) innocent victims and wounds 10-15-30-50 other people

Everyone knows very well that nothing will be done to try to make sure this doesn't happen again. Everyone knows that this tragedy will play out again , and again and again...in the same way, under similar circumstances...next week or next month.

Like stubborn people who refuse to take precautions, who refuse to learn lessons, who continue to make the same stupid mistakes over and over and over again.... We are just showing the rest of the world that we are incapable of learning basic lessons access to guns by mentally disturbed individuals...lessons that the rest of the civilized world learned a long time ago.

[americanusa]

to bobnjersey: you are so right. he was pretty much left to his own devices. available money did keep him there longer than he probably should have been and he couldn't handle failure, not finding a job that matched his college level training, and suddenly out of money--having to repay probably at least $500 per month he didn't have. still, he chose to do what he did; he was the ultimate person not standing out who wanted fame thru the major act he did.

[touch128]

Would someone tell Michele Bachmann that this man was not a Muslim terrorist.

[John_Swift]

Now if only there were a way for me to twist this story around in a way that promotes my own narrow-minded political agenda. Oh wait, all I have to do is just copy and paste from any random page of the user comments.

[bobnjersey]

[ if only there were a way for me to twist this story around in a way that promotes my own narrow-minded political agenda.]
--------------------------------
it's good that you're fully aware of how narrow minded you actually are.

often the first step in mitigating a problem if in recognizing that you have one.

[paul2313]

Plus, being narrow minded is just God's way of punishing you for having parents that had sex before marriage.

[aintfakin]

americanusa July 21, 2012 4:31 PM EDT
Joker? jokes on us. this shooter paid for his 6,000 rounds of ammunition using federal student financial aid:
-------------------------------------------
yeah!!!
I'll bet every student is planning the same thing
so lets get rid of student financial aid completely
heck
while we are at it lets get rid of students completely. All they are is a bunch of commies.
and all this whining about executing innocent people. We gotta make sure we get the guilty one....right???
bla bla bla, yada yada, garbage garbage...........

[hypnotoad72]

aintfakin -

Agreed.

And it's appalling that someone with the name "americanusa" would stoop to such sickening accusations without first showing the receipt.

[Jaylah54200]

True.

We've been told (and we believe everything we're told) that universities are just basically left-wing indoctrination camps.

And if people are actually allowed to go to university (where they are taught critical thinking skills) they might end up able to think for themselves. Can't have that.

[AnnieDanny]

It's just impossible for me to understand why someone would make the choices and decisions this young man has made.

People don't want to believe that there's a future in heaven or hell, and we will need to explain ourselves to God someday. But not wanting to believe it, doesn't mean it's not true.

I keep thinking that video games are a huge reason behind the violence in the past 20 years. Kids grow up learning to shoot hundreds and thousands of people a day, for their entire childhood. When are we going to figure out that this is really sick?

[bobnjersey]

[People don't want to believe that there's a future in heaven or hell, and we will need to explain ourselves to God someday. But not wanting to believe it, doesn't mean it's not true. ]
----------------------------------------------------
and just wanting to believe it doesn't make it true either.

[hypnotoad72]

qpqpqpqpq1234 -

Not all atheists are charming beacons of reformed dignity, either...