Theater shooting kin reject movie invite

DENVER -- Relatives of those killed at a Colorado movie theater rejected an invitation yesterday to attend its planned reopening, calling it a "disgusting offer" that came at a terrible time, right after the first Christmas without their loved ones.

The parents, grandparents, cousins and widow of nine of the 12 people killed in the July shooting said they were invited to an "evening of remembrance," followed by a movie, when the Aurora theater reopens on Jan. 17. They issued a letter sent to the theater's owner, Cinemark, in which they criticized the Plano, Texas-based company for not previously reaching out to them to offer condolences and refusing to meet with them without lawyers.

"Our family members will never be on this earth with us again and a movie ticket and some token words from people who didn't care enough to reach out to us, nor respond when we reached out to them to talk, is appalling," the letter said.

Cinemark had no immediate comment.

The company announced last month that it would invite people affected by the attack and other guests, a move that Aurora officials said has strong support in the community. Gov. John Hickenlooper plans to attend.-- AP