The fatal shooting of 12 people at the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora early Friday didn’t prevent moviegoers from attending an early-morning showing of the movie at the downtown Denver Pavilions.
“I’ve been waiting two months to see the movie, and I took the day off to see it,” said Alex Pankonin, who bought a ticket at United Artists Theaters.
Pankonin never thought to scuttle his plans to see the curtain rise on the 8:30 a.m. showing.
“It didn’t stop me too much, as far as seeing the movie,” he said.
An usher said about 30 people had purchased tickets for the film, which was also being shown as part of a private event for cybersecurity vendors.
No one — at least that early — was wearing character costumes from the movie.
One man who attended the private screening said he checked ahead to see if it was still going to be shown. He said he did have “some qualms” about attending the morning event.
“Certainly I think it’s natural to think twice about seeing this for a lot of reasons,” said the man, who asked not to be identified for job-related reasons.
He also said it’s likely the shooting suspect targeted the Aurora theater because it was part of a huge, national premiere that would draw plenty of people.
“But then again, it’s hard to understand a twisted mind,” he said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
