Cinema killer’s psychiatrist had warned police

New questions are confronting the university that Colorado theatre shooting suspect James Holmes attended amid disclosures that a psychiatrist warned campus police a month before the deadly assault that Holmes was dangerous and had homicidal thoughts.

Court documents just made public cited Dr Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado, Denver who had treated Holmes. The documents said Fenton told a campus police officer in June that the shooting suspect also threatened and intimidated her.

It was more than a month before the Jul 20 attack at a cinema that killed 12 and injured 70.

Campus police officer Lynn Whitten told investigators after the shooting that Fenton had contacted her. Whitten said Fenton was following her legal requirement to report threats to authorities, according one of the documents, a search warrant affidavit.

“Dr Fenton advised that through her contact with James Holmes she was reporting, per her requirement, his danger to the public due to homicidal statements he had made,” the affidavit said.

Whitten added that Fenton said she began to receive threatening text messages from Holmes after he stopped seeing her for counselling, the documents said.

The records also show that police collected evidence from Holmes’ apartment, including 50 cans and bottles of beer, a Batman mask, shooting targets and prescription medications to treat anxiety and depression. His attorneys have said he is mentally ill.

Whitten told investigators she deactivated Holmes’ access card after hearing from Fenton, but the affidavit did not say what other action she took.