Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

‘Batman’ Shooter Worked at Jewish Summer Camp

Victims Mourn: Friends and relatives mourn the victims of the ?Batman? massacre in Colorado. Image by getty images

The alleged shooter who killed 12 in a crowded Colorado movie theater worked at a Jewish summer camp for underprivileged children.

James Holmes spent a summer working as a counselor for Camp Max Straus in Glendale, Calif., which is run by Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Holmes, 24, is suspected of setting off a smoke bomb late Thursday night in a midnight screening in Aurora, Colo. of the new Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises” and then opening fire on the crowd, killing 12 and injuring dozens. He was arrested early Friday morning

In a statement to The Los Angeles Times, Randy Schwab, chief executive of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and director of Camp Max Straus, said of Holmes: “His role was to ensure that these children had a wonderful camp experience by helping them learn confidence, self-esteem and how to work in small teams to effect positive outcomes,” he said. In a later e-mail, he added: “That summer provided the kids a wonderful camp experience without incident.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to President Obama on Saturday, expressing his condolences and those of the Israeli people to the families of the Americans who were murdered in the Aurora movie theater.

“All Israelis stand alongside the American people in mourning over this terrible tragedy which claimed the lives of so many. We well understand the pain and loss that you are experiencing,” Netanyahu wrote.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.