Mr Obama met survivors² and families of the dead when he visited the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.

 

He said he shared hugs and tears and vowed³ that "out of darkness a brighter day is going to come".

 

James Holmes, 24, has been arrested in connection with the attack, which killed 12 and injured 58.

 

Mr Holmes is alleged⁴ to have opened fire during a packed midnight screening of The Dark Knight⁵ Rises before being detained outside the cinema.

 

He is currently being held in solitary⁶ confinement⁷（单独监禁） for his own safety and is reported to be not co-operating. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Mr Holmes had "lawyered up" and is not talking.

 

 

President Obama said he had visited as much as a father and husband as a president, because everyone understood what it must be like to have someone taken in this fashion.

 

He said: "You see young people who have come in and just two days ago or 36 hours ago or even 24 hours ago, it wasn't certain whether they would make it and now suddenly their eyes are open, they are alert, and they are talking and it reminds you that even in the darkest of days... life continues."

 

Mr Obama added: "I confessed to them words were inadequate but my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and say we are thinking about them at this moment each and every day."

 

The president said he had shared hugs and tears, but also laughter as the families recounted the lives of their loved ones.

 

Mr Oates said: "As awful as what they've been through and what they're going through has been, having the president here is very, very powerful."

 

Both Mr Obama and his Republican Party challenger, Mitt⁹ Romney, curtailed¹⁰ their election campaigns in the wake of the Aurora attack, dropping advertising¹¹ in Colorado state out of respect for victims and their families.

 

People have been laying flowers at a memorial site near the Century cinema.

 

Thousands of people have also been gathering¹² outside City Hall for an emotional vigil for the victims.

 

Police and army officers, and other officials were loudly applauded as they approached the stage.

 

Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told the crowd: "While our hearts are broken, our community is not."

 

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper refused to mention Mr Holmes by name, saying the priority was the 12 victims. 

 

He said: "July 20th should never be about remembering the killer¹³, it should be about remembering those individuals, remembering those victims. So I ask you to help me here."

 

As he then read out the names, the crowd chanted, "We will remember," after each.

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