Colorado shooters mother says phone call was misconstrued

James Holmes in court, July 23, 2012. (AP/Pool)

Colorado shooters mother say phone call was misconstrued

Arlene Holmes the mother of Colorado shooting suspect, James Holmes, says that her phone call with ABC News producer Matthew Mosk was misconstrued.

ABC news reported that when Mosk contacted Arlene Homes, that she responded to their call by saying,

You have the right person. I need to call the police. I need to fly to Colorado.

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Since that statement, many including this author, have believed that statement demonstrates that the Colorado shooters mother knew her son had issues.

Through their family attorney,Lisa Damiani, the Colorado shooters mother in a phone interview gave her side.

I did not know anything about a shooting in Aurora at that time,” Arlene Holmes’s said in statement read by her lawyer today. “He [Mosk] asked if I was Arlene Holmes and if my son was James Holmes, who lives in Aurora, Colorado. I answered yes, you have the right person. I was referring to myself. I asked him to tell me why he was calling and he told me about a shooting in Aurora. He asked for a comment. I told him I could not comment because I did not know if the person he was talking about was my son and I would need to find out.

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Mosk stands by his comments.  He said that he woke up Arlene Holmes with his phone call and informed her that a man, he believed was her son had been arrested in Aurora and asked to confirm their relationship. He released the full context of the conversation.  He said that she said,

“You have to tell me what happened… You have to tell me what happened.”  Mosk said he told her that ABC News had learned the 24-year-old James Holmes had been identified by police as the lone suspect in the mass killing in Aurora, Colorado and that the details of the events were still taking shape. And that she then replied,

“You have the right person. I need to call the police. I need to fly to Colorado.”

Now Arlene Holmes’ attorney is saying something completely different.  Completely.  That would not be misconstrued. If that were truly the case, wouldn’t you expect Arlene Holmes to be hopping mad stating that it’s an outright lie!

Unless it didn’t exactly happen that way.

According to Mosk, Lisa Damiani, the attorney contacted ABC before their scheduled conference to inquire if there was audio tape. When told there wasn’t, she then went ahead and held the conference to give their version. That can be “construed” as “odd” Very odd.

It does seem that Mosk should be reprimanded for not releasing the entire statement because just hearing that statement can be taken the wrong way.

Still, I would think that Arlene Holmes would better serve the interests and the memory of all the deceased and injured by speaking out meaningfully and truthfully about her son’s behavior rather than wasting time for a news conference to quibble over a statement.

It does not portray her in a good light.

Colorado Shooter James Holmes family knew he had issues

How about telling the public if you noticed any problems with your son. How about letting us know if they were financially supporting their.  Since he didn’t work, where did he get the money to purchase such a costly arsenal. Did he have any issues or strange habits as a child? Did he talk about mass murders or have some other types of fixations?

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that 12 people are dead and more than 50 people are injured due to her son’s actions.

It is not her fault – he is the one who shot them – however we need to hear from Arlene Holmes about her son so that we can learn what triggered him and learn how to prevent it.

Her time in the spotlight would have been much better served by sharing any information that she possibly can about her son’s behavior so others can gain valuable insight in to how to prevent such tragedies.

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