AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Police say at least 12 people are dead and 50 injured following a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

The death toll was reduced later Friday morning by authorities in Colorado, which initially reported as many as 15 deaths.

Federal law enforcement officials tell the Associated Press the suspect is James Holmes, a 24-year-old American male from Colorado.

Officials now say Holmes was wearing a gas mask and set off an unknown gas in the theater before silently opening fire.

Theater No. 9 at the Century multiplex in Aurora was packed for a midnight screening of the newest Batman film when a man clad in black and wearing a gas mask burst through the door.

According to witness reports the man threw a canister which erupted in smoke before silently opening fire indiscriminately on the crowd.

Patrons in an adjacent theater say the bullets pierced the walls. Some believed the gunfire was part of the movie. One man in the theater says when he heard moaning and knew people were in pain. Video showed people being carried away.

Officials say police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard.

Police found the gunman near a car behind the theater and took him into custody. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says a gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon were found inside the theater.

Oats says the man taken into custody also mentioned possible explosives in his residence. His neighborhood was evacuated, but after a search, authorities did not say whether they found any explosives.