Obama reaches out to Colorado shooting families as 'father, husband', not president

Washington, July 23 (ANI): President Barack Obama has visited Colorado to meet the victims of a shooting at a Denver movie theater, and offered sympathy to survivors of the massacre and to families who lost their loved ones.

At least 12 people were killed and nearly 58 injured after a gunman, James Holmes, went on a rampage during a midnight screening of the Batman movie ' Dark Knight Rises '.

"I come to them not so much as a president as I do as a father and as a husband," Obama said, visibly holding back his tears.

He described the shooting incident as an 'evil act,' Stuff.co.nz reports.

But he said the attention surrounding the shooter 'will fade away, and in the end, after he has felt the full force of our justice system, what will be remembered are the good people who were impacted by this tragedy'.

According to a report, Holmes is now being held without bond on suspicion of multiple counts of first-degree murder.

The police said Holmes had dyed his hair red and called himself 'the Joker' in a reference to Batman's comic-book nemesis.

During the attack, the Batman obsessed gunman set off gas canisters and used a military-style semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to open fire on the unsuspecting theatre-goers. (ANI)