Loner James Holmes Was Dating: Emails

Newly released emails paint a clearer picture of the Aurora shooting suspect—and the University of Colorado's reaction to the attack. Former student James Holmes didn't have many friends, but he did briefly have a girlfriend who was in India during the shooting, the AP reports. Holmes "had a brief romantic relationship with one of the grad students in my program last fall," wrote a faculty member in an email to a friend shortly after the attack. "She knows, and is pretty freaked out."

There were a few others who knew him, wrote the head of the neuroscience department from which Holmes withdrew: "He was friendly with 1-2 students in another program," she noted, citing fears for the safety of fellow students and faculty. An assistant professor writes in another email that his notes on Holmes from a recruitment interview are still available, but a later email says an attorney told campus officials to "purge those data." Later the attorney changed her mind. The emails' release follows a court battle. Initially, a judge had blocked their release to ensure a fair trial, but media opposition prompted the judge to alter his order. Still, much of the material is redacted. (More Aurora, Colorado stories.)