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Colorado Shooting Stories: There Were Many 'Heroes Among Us'

A heart shaped balloon hovered above a memorial for victims outside the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last week.
Joe Raedle
/
Getty Images
A heart shaped balloon hovered above a memorial for victims outside the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last week.

As they're being told, we're pointing to some of the stories about the 12 people who died and the 58 who were wounded when a gunman opened fire on July 20 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Click here to see more. As you see others, please share the links in the comment threads.

Today, we also want to single out The Denver Post's weekend package on the "Heroes Among Us":

"Inside the theater, some froze and many ran. They were human. There is no disgrace in that.

"But sitting amid the crowd, Jon Blunk did not freeze, and he did not run. Instead, he quickly pushed his girlfriend to the ground — to safety — then shielded her from bullets that took his life but not hers. Across the theater, others — Matt McQuinn, John Larimer, Jesse Childress and more — were just as selfless.

"Even as the gunman continued to shoot, even as fear was at its strongest, the theater was awash in courage."

That's how the Post's main story in the package sums up the stories of courage and bravery from that awful night. Some of the other pieces of that package:

-- "Aurora college student thought of mom, Greek philosophers."

-- "Aurora survivor, son of a pastor, put life on the line for a mom, kids."

-- "17-year-old theater shooting survivor showed 'strength of 10,000 men.' "

-- "Two friends faced with a choice decide to stay and help."

-- "Movie-goer ran into theater 9, rescued teenage girl after massacre."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.