How did Holmes get through the emergency door?
Early reports were that someone answered a cell phone, then headed to the exit. After he sat down, the shooter came in the exit.
He faked receiving an urgent phone call, exited via the emergency door (propping it open) ostensibly to take the call without disturbing the movie, then ran to his car, suited up, retrieved his arsenal and reentered.
That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it until evidence proves the contrary.
Was it an “emergency” door or just an exit door?
The Theaters around here have exits to the Lobby and to the left and right of the Screen.
Just an early report I’d heard, so you know how wrong they can be, but it was said the he knocked on the door and someone in the audience let him in. I hadn’t heard the part about him already being in the theater.
Building and fire codes mandate the exits.
It isn’t in the best interest of the theater to allow the exits to be operable from the outside. They lose ticket sales to kids entering in the theater from the rear. Many theaters used to patrol the exits to catch re-entrant squatters.
Theater isn’t in the wrong.
How did Holmes get through the emergency door?
I can just imagine all sorts of measures being taken to strengthen the emergency door against unauthorized entry. And, next time there’s a fire, they’ll find they did their job too well when people can’t get out.