Remembering the Aurora movie theater shooting victims
Petty Officer Third Class John Thomas Larimer, of Crystal Lake, Ill., died from injuries sustained in the mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater on July 20, 2012. Larimer was one of 12 people, including two active-duty service members, who died in the mass shooting.
Rebecca Ann Wingo
In a Facebook posting the father of Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32, confirmed that his daughter died in the Aurora shooting. "I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man," Steve Hernandez wrote. "My grief right now is inconsolable. I hear she died instantly, without pain, however the pain is unbearable."
Wingo had been an employee at Joe's Crab Shack and had started a job several months prior to the shooting as a customer relations representative at a mobile medical imaging company. She was working towards an associate of arts degree at the Community College of Aurora.
Shannon Dominguez, who worked with Wingo on weekends, said she was friendly with everyone and always seemed to be in a good mood." She had a really bubbly personality," Dominguez said. "She was a pretty happy person."
Alex Matthew Sullivan
Alex Matthew Sullivan, in a photo taken on his wedding day in 2011.
For Sullivan, July 20, 2012 was to be a weekend of fun: He planned to ring in his 27th birthday with friends at a special midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." The following Sunday would have been his first wedding anniversary.
"He was a very, very good young man," said Sullivan's uncle, Joe Loewenguth. "He always had a smile, always made you laugh. He had a little bit of comic in him. Witty, smart. He was loving, had a big heart."
In a statement Alex's family said it had lost "a cherished member."
"Alex was smart, funny, and above all loved dearly by his friends and family. . . . Alex was a gentle giant, known and loved by so many. He always had a glowing smile on his face and he made friends with everyone. Alex enjoyed all sorts of movies, was an avid comic book geek and loved the New York Mets."
Shelly Fradkin, whose son Brian was good friends with Sullivan, described Alex as "just a big teddy bear. Great hugs," she said.
She said Sullivan was such a big movie fan that he took jobs at theaters just to see movies.
Alex Matthew Sullivan (cont.)
Relatives spent excruciating hours waiting for word of their missing loved ones after the July 20, 2012 shooting.
Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members outside Gateway High School where he had been searching frantically for his son, Alex Sullivan, who was celebrating his 27th birthday by going to see "The Dark Knight Rises," when a gunman opened fire in the crowded theater in Aurora, Colo.
Sullivan was later confirmed to be among the victims.
Alex Matthew Sullivan (cont.)
A photograph of theater shooting victim Alex Sullivan and his wife Cassie are shown, Saturday, July 21, 2012, at a memorial near the movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Family friend Shelly Fradkin and her son spent an "excruciating" day trying to find Sullivan before learning of his death, she said. "We're shocked. We're numb. We're sick," she said. "Our hearts are broken, and we're crushed."
Alexander Jonathan Boik
Alexander Jonathan ("A.J.") Boik enjoyed baseball, music and making pottery, and dreamed of becoming an art teacher. A 2012 graduate of Gateway High School, Boik had been accepted at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where he planned on attending classes in the fall.
His family said he was also dating a beautiful young lady, who was with Boik at the Century 16 theater. She survived the shooting spree.
In a statement his family said AJ was "a wonderful, handsome and loving 18-year-old young man, with a warm and loving heart. He enjoyed his friends and family and always brought a smile and quick wit to every occasion.
"A.J. was loved by all that knew him. We want to try and focus on the beautiful lives that were ended and not the evil that is responsible. This is a time for us to remember our loved ones and cherish the memories we have of them."
Alexander Jonathan Boik (cont.)
A student wears ribbons in tribute to shooting victim A.J. Boik, Saturday, July 21, 2012, at a vigil at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo.
A friend, Jordan Crofter, described Boik as someone who "didn't hold anything back. He was just his own person."
"He was a ball of joy. He was never sad or depressed. He wanted everybody to be happy," Crofter told The Associated Press.
Veronica Moser-Sullivan
Veronica Moser-Sullivan, age 6, was the youngest of 12 people killed by James Holmes at an Aurora movie theater on July 20, 2012.
Her mother, Ashley Moser, was critically wounded but survived.
Ashley's cousin, Annie Dalton, said Veronica was to start learning swimming lessons the week after the shooting rampage.
"She was excited about life as she should be. She's a 6-year-old girl," her great-aunt said.
Ashley Moser
Ashley Moser, the mother of Veronica Moser-Sullivan, suffered a miscarriage and was paralyzed after being shot at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., a family member said. She was shot in the neck and abdomen.
"We want to send a special thank you to the courageous HEROES of law enforcement, other first responders, paramedics, and doctors and nurses who have all gone beyond the call-of-duty in caring for our daughter, granddaughter and all of the other victims of this tragic event," her family said in a statement.
Moser gave emotional testimony in the 2015 trial of shooter James Holmes, who was convicted.
Jessica Ghawi
A blogger who recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting, Jessica Ghawi (also known as Jessica Redfield) was among those killed in Aurora. Her death came as a "complete and utter shock," said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.
Ghawi, 24, moved to Denver from Texas and talked of a career as a sports reporter. Friends and colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty. "She was always kind of a sponge as far as how she could be an even better journalist and sports broadcaster," said Peter Burns, a radio sports show host with Mile High Sports Radio in Denver, where Ghawi recently interned.
Ghawi blogged at length about surviving the June 2012 Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto that killed two people and sent several others to the hospital. She wrote of the Toronto shooting: "I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders' faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath."
Jessica Ghawi (cont.)
In 2011, Jessica Ghawi met her boyfriend, hockey player Jay Meloff, when she interviewed him for a sports story.
For Meloff, the loss of his girlfriend is still too much. "We both had a lot of dreams and we both were very excited about our future," he told CBS News.
Jessica Ghawi (cont.)
After Ghawi was killed in the Aurora massacre, Meloff wrote to her on Twitter: "140 characters could never do you justice nor could all the words in this world. Never wanted to fall asleep because it meant missing time with you."
Gordon Cowden
Gordon Cowden had gone to the midnight movie premiere with his two teenage children. At 51, he was the oldest of the victims killed in the shooting. His children escaped unharmed.
He lived in Aurora, but was described as a "true Texas gentleman" in a family statement. He loved the outdoors and owned his own business.
"A quick witted world traveler with a keen sense of humor, he will be remembered for his devotion to his children and for always trying his best to do the right thing, no matter the obstacle," his family said.
Micayla Medek
Micayla Medek loved a night out with her friends, and she was with a group of about 10 of them at the "Dark Knight Rises" premiere.
Medek - "Cayla" to family and friends - was 23 years old and juggling classes at Aurora Community College with a job at a Subway sandwich shop, said her aunt Jenny Zakovich, 57, of South Milwaukee, Wis.
Medek in the Denver suburb of Westminster and - like her father - was a huge Green Bay Packers fan, said her aunt, Jenny Zakovich, of South Milwaukee, Wis.
Zakovich described Medek as an independent-minded and sweet girl who rarely asked her family for anything: "She was one who wouldn't hurt anybody. She was a very loving person. This shouldn't have happened to somebody like her."
Her father's cousin, Anita Busch, said Medek's death was heartbreaking, but she added, "I hope this evil act ... doesn't shake people's faith in God."
Jonathan Blunk
Jonathan Blunk, 26 and a father of two, had served three tours in the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea between 2004 and 2009.
"It was guts or glory for him," close friend James Gill of Brighton, Colo., told The Associated Press. "It always surprised me that he didn't serve in a situation more on the front line. He wanted to be a first responder on the front line."
Blunk was also a certified firefighter and emergency medical technician, Gill added.
Blunk died in the shooting July 20, 2016 after throwing himself in front of friend Jansen Young (pictured, right) and saving her life, she told the Today Show. He told her to stay down.
Gill said he wasn't surprised: "That's something he would do. If he was going to choose a way to die, that's how he wanted to go -- defending someone from a (person) like that."
Jonathan Blunk (cont.)
U.S. Navy Petty Officer Second Class Keith Hoover, right, with his girlfriend Monica Matryba, hold a photo of sailor Jon Blunk at the Aurora Municipal Center, Sunday, July 22, 2012, in Aurora, Colo., during a prayer vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at a movie theater.
Jesse E. Childress
Jesse E. Childress was an Air Force cyber-systems operator based at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.
Air Force Capt. Andrew Williams described the 29-year-old from Thornton, Colo., as knowledgeable, experienced and respectful. "We're going to miss him incredibly," he said.
Tech Sgt. Alejandro Sanchez, a co-worker, told the AP that Childress was his good friend and they were on a bowling team together. "He would help anyone and always was great for our Air Force unit," he said.
Another co-worker, Ashley Wassinger, said Childress "was a great person fun to be with, always positive and laughing. Really just an amazing person, and I am so lucky to have been his friend," she said.
Childress grew up in the southern California community of Palmdale. William Grier told CBS Station KCAL, "He was like a brother to all of us, man. Color did not matter. He taught us all the same thing. We played in the front yard here. We played football here. We grew up here. We just hung out. This is just ... so sad."
Aurora Municipal Center Vigil
Mourners created a memorial at the fountain of Aurora Municipal Center after a prayer vigil for the 12 victims of the mass shooting at the Century 16 movie theater, on July 22, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado. James Holmes went on a shooting spree and killed 12 people and injured dozens during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."
He was convicted in the rampage in 2015.
Matt McQuinn
Matt McQuinn was with his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, and her brother Nick at the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" when a gunman burst into the theater, released canisters of pepper spray and opened fire. McQuinn and Nick Yowler tried to shield the young woman with their bodies. She suffered a bullet wound to the leg; Nick escaped unharmed.
But McQuinn, 27, died.
Matt McQuinn (cont.)
Matt McQuinn and his girlfriend Samantha Yowler in an undated photo.
McQuinn and Yowler had met in Ohio and moved last year to Denver, where they worked at a Target store. "They're really fun people," said co-worker Melissa Downen.
Alexander C. Teves
Alexander C. Teves, 24, of Phoenix, earned a master's degree in counseling psychology in June from the University of Denver.
His aunt, Barbara Slivinske, told CBS affiliate KPHO Phoenix: "Alex was a very wonderful, kind, caring person. He had a great sense of humor. At one point he grew his hair 10 or 12 inches long so that he could cut it off and donate it to Locks of Love."
Alexander C. Teves (cont.)
Alex Teves was with his girlfriend at the theater in Aurora when the shooting happened, said his aunt Barbara Slivinske: "He pushed her, his girlfriend down, so that she would be safe and he was getting to the ground but the shots got him before he got to the ground," she told KPHO.
As a boy, Teves moved from New Jersey to Phoenix with his parents. His grandfather, Carlo Iacovelli of Barnegat, N.J., said Teves was "an ideal grandson," who made friends quickly and had a lot of them. "He was a fun guy. He loved to eat."
Teves was planning to become a psychiatrist, his grandfather said: "He had a lot to look forward to."
By CBSNews.com senior editor David Morgan