James Holmes Called Himself Joker, Says NYC Police

James Holmes

A New York City police commissioner said that Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes called himself as Joker, one of Batman's nemeses, after he was arrested.

"It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman," said NYC Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

However, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates would not confirm the said information, but did say he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York. Asked whether Holmes had makeup to look like the Joker, Oates said: "That to my knowledge is not true."

Wearing a gas mask, Holmes barged into a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado where the new Batman movie was screening Friday, hurled a gas canister and then opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.

Holmes was arrested in a nearby car park shortly after the shooting.

Born December 13, 1987, Holmes spent at least part of his childhood in San Diego, where he attended Westview High School. A yearbook showed he played soccer on the junior varsity team.

According to reports, Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from a doctorate program in neuroscience at the University of Colorado Denver.

The University of California, Riverside, confirmed that a student named James Eagan Holmes, with the same date of birth, graduated with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience in 2010.

On a rental application, the 24-year-old described himself as "quiet" and "easy-going."

The FBI has said Holmes is white, 6 feet and 3 inches tall. His only police record was a traffic ticket in 2011. The car he was driving to the theater had Tennessee plates.