JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As the investigation into the Batman movie massacre unfolds, many in the the medical field are trying to figure out what drove James Holmes to open fire on a movie audience early Friday.
"Certainly people have depression or maybe talking about hurting themselves or hurting others would put them at risk. But in a situation like this, to hurt so many people, I don't think that there were very many warning signs that could have been thought of," said Dr. Sunil Joshi with the Duval County Medical Society.
Dr. Joshi says this is an interesting case because of Holmes' background. He is well-educated and was always at the top of his class academically. He Worked in the neurosciences program as a paid researcher for the University of Colorado School of Medicine. But it's still unclear if he suffers from any mental disorders.
"Someone who has a true psychiatric illness may or may not be able to plan such a devised scheme like he did. So it does make you wonder if this is just something he wanted to do," said Dr. Joshi.
In the day following the movie massacre, we've learned that Holmes may have taken classes on depression, schizophrenia and other disorders.
"Was he suffering from them or was he trying to figure out how somebody with the disorders acts in situations like this. We don't know unless he saw a health care professional of these types of matters."
While investigators continue to move forward and collect evidence, Dr. Joshi Says there's no way for anyone to identify who is going to be a gunman.
"One shoe size doesn't fit all for this scenario. There's people who have been trying for years to figure out what kind of personality makes somebody go on a shooting spree like that and there's nothing in particular that can identify that type of person," said Dr. Joshi.
At a Saturday news conference, Aurora's chief of police tried to head off a mental incompetence defense by saying suspect James Holmes was deliberate and calculating in receiving numerous commercial deliveries to his home and workplace over the past four months. He says that explains all the ammunition Holmes had.
