Batman cinema gunman James Holmes asked police: “There weren’t any children hurt, were there?” hours after his arrest.

The movie industry was reeling from the deadly Colorado shooting at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, as one of the most anticipated films of the decade became enmeshed in tragedy.

A gunman died after he opened the door to his Illinois hospital room at the end of a four-and-a-half-hour stand-off early today and pointed his gun at police, who opened fire.