James Holmes, the man who shot and killed 12 people and wounded 58 others in a Colorado movie theater this summer, was taken to the hospital on Tuesday with an unspecified condition, rendering him unable to attend his court date this week.
Officials and Holmes’ attorney were vague as to any detail, saying only, “It’s not as simple as a migraine”.
Holmes has been analyzed by court-appointed psychiatrists since the shooting in an attempt to figure out his mental and emotional state and whether or not he is fit to stand trial. Since being incarcerated, he has reportedly made several “half-hearted” attempts to kill himself–running into the wall of his cell, jumping off his bed–and some believe this hospitalization came after another attempt.
Attorneys for Holmes have filed for a motion to delay his hearing, but prosecutors want answers before any such reprieve is given.
“It is not clear whether it is claimed he is suffering from a physical medical condition, a mental condition, whether he is suffering from a negative emotional reaction to his circumstances, or anything other than he has some kind of ‘condition,’” prosecutors said.
The accused gunman has exhibited strange behavior since he was taken into custody, staring wide-eyed into the camera for mugshots and sitting limply in the courtroom, staring into space. Officials say the shooting came after he failed several exams at school and wasn’t given a good referral for a doctorate program; after the theater shooting, police found his apartment booby-trapped and what they described as an “arsenal” of weapons, which he had laid aside in preparation for a mass killing.