School ran background check on Holmes before rampage

Associated Press

CENTENNIAL, Colo.

The former graduate student accused in a deadly mass shooting at a movie theater had failed a key exam six weeks before the rampage, made threats and was banned from his college, prosecutors said Thursday.

University of Colorado Denver spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery later disputed that James Holmes was banned from campus but confirmed that a criminal background check was done on him before the July 20 attack.

She said a court gag order prevented her from discussing who requested the check, who performed it and who saw the results.

Montgomery’s statement was believed to be the first explicit public confirmation that a check had been done on Holmes’ background before the shootings.

Montgomery did say that campus Police Chief Doug Abraham was referring to that background check when he said at a July 23 news conference that Holmes had only a minor infraction on his record.

She said Holmes’ access to restricted areas on campus was canceled because he left his program in June, not because of threats.

Prosecutors made their new claims Thursday against Holmes in their effort to persuade a judge to allow them access to 100 pages of education records subpoenaed from the university.