On July 20, 2012, Jonathan Thomas Blunk, a 26-year-old male, was one of 12 people killed in a mass shooting at a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. Dressed in tactical gear, James Eagan Holmes set off tear gas grenades and opened fire on the audience. In a final act of heroism, Blunk, a Navy veteran, pushed his girlfriend to safety, shielding her from the barrage of bullets.
A father of two, Blunk had aspirations
of becoming a Navy SEAL and had served three tours in the Middle East between 2004 and 2009. He was remembered as a kind and giving person who always wanted to help people. At the time of his death, Blunk was working for a small flooring company and had plans to re-enlist in the Navy. He was a certified firefighter and emergency medical technician.
The man responsible for the attack, James Holmes, a 24-year-old former doctoral student in neuroscience, was arrested at the scene. He was later charged with 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted first-degree murder, among other charges. The attack was one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history, with 70 people injured in addition to the 12 fatalities.
