AURORA, Colo. — Ashley Moser drifted in and out of consciousness in the intensive-care unit, bullets lodged in her throat and abdomen. In her waking moments, she called for her 6-year-old daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan.
Nobody had the heart to tell her that Veronica was dead, the youngest person killed in a Colorado movie theater in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
“Nobody can tell her about it,” Annie Dalton said of her niece, Ashley Moser. “She is in critical condition, but all she’s asking about is her daughter.”
Veronica just started swimming lessons on Tuesday, Dalton said.
“She was excited about life, as she should be. She’s a 6-year-old girl,” her greataunt said.
The young girl was among the 12 people killed when a gunman barged into a crowded Colorado theater, set off gas canisters and started shooting as spectators dove for cover. Dozens of people were injured, including 25-year-old Ashley Moser and 10 others in critical condition as of Friday night.
On Saturday, Colorado authorities released the names of those killed — eight men, three women and Veronica Moser-Sullivan. The oldest victim was 51-year-old Gordon Cowden.
All died of gunshot wounds, according to a news release from the Arapahoe County coroner’s office.
One of the 12, Matthew McQuinn, has been tentatively identified and is awaiting final identification, although his family’s attorney, Rob Scott of Dayton, Ohio, confirmed that McQuinn was among those killed.
Scott said McQuinn was shot after diving in front of his girlfriend and her older brother to shield them from the gunfire. The girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, was shot in the leg and is recovering after surgery, and her brother was not hurt. Scott’s account could not be immediately verified.
For Alex Sullivan, it was to be a weekend of fun. He planned to ring in his 27th birthday with friends at the special midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises and then celebrate his first wedding anniversary today.
Late Friday, Sullivan’s family confirmed that police had told them he was among those killed.
“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.”
Micayla Medek, 23, was also among the dead, said her father’s cousin, Anita Busch.
Busch said the news, while heartbreaking, came as a relief for the family after an agonizing day of waiting for news.
Saturday morning, parents of John Larimer released a statement that Navy officials that notified them about midnight that their 27-yearold son was one of the 12 killed.
The family said Larimer’s brother is working with the Navy to take his body home to Crystal Lake, Ill. He was with a unit that belongs to the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet at Buckley Air Force.
An Air Force reservist who worked at Buckley also was among the dead. Sgt. Jesse Childress, 29, was a cyber-systems operator, the Air Force said in a statement. Another reservist was treated and released after also being wounded in the shootings.
A blogger and aspiring sports reporter who recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting was killed, the woman’s brother said.
The death of Jessica Ghawi, who was also known as Jessica Redfield, was a “complete and utter shock,” said her brother, Jordan Ghawi.
He has been using his blog and Twitter account to update what he knew about his sister’s condition. He also appeared on the NBC Today show.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Friday evening that 10 victims died at the theater and two died later from their injuries.
Jordan Ghawi said on his website that a man who was with his sister at the theater described the chaos, saying he and Jessica Ghawi dropped to take cover when the gunman first started shooting. Jessica Ghawi was shot in the leg, her brother wrote, describing details relayed to him by a man identified on the blog only as a mutual friend named Brent.
The man was then shot, but he continued attending to Jessica Ghawi’s wound until he realized that she had stopped screaming, Jordan Ghawi stated. The man said Jessica Ghawi had been shot in the head.
Jessica Ghawi, 24, moved to Denver from Texas about a year ago, and friends and colleagues described her as outgoing, smart and witty.
Ghawi blogged at length about surviving the Eaton Centre mall shooting in Toronto that killed two people and sent several others to the hospital.
Jessica Ghawi 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.”
The other victims were Alexander J. Boik, Jonathan T. Blunk, Rebecca Ann Wingo and Alexander C. Teves, according to the coroner’s office.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 07/22/2012