Aurora theater shooting hearing: James Holmes's eyes lit up, said victim's dad

Caleb Medley.

Grizzle also transported Caleb Medley, a budding standup comedian who was in a coma for many weeks after the shooting. (His wife, Katie Medley, gave birth to their first child, a son named Hugo, in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.) The officer said Medley suffered significant trauma to his face that made it difficult for him to breath. The effort of inhaling made a "godawful noise," but the absence of this sound was even worse. "I kept telling him, 'Don't fucking die on me! Don't fucking die on me!" Grizzle testified.

One other shocking comment from Grizzle. According to him, "There was so much blood, I could hear it sloshing in the back of my car."

As Grizzle spoke, he became emotional. He had to stop speaking several times and could be seen wiping his eyes. Many people in the audience made the same movements during his testimony, with several people embracing each other.

Katie and Hugo Medley.

The next person to speak was Aurora Police Sergeant Gerald Jonsgaard. He arrived at the scene within a minute or so, but rather than rushing straight to the theater, he headed for higher ground -- he was level with the theater roof -- and grabbed his rifle on the chance that he could see the shooter fleeing. Instead, he saw what he guessed was a member of a SWAT team, but instead turned out to be Holmes, who was taken into custody seconds later. He confirmed that Holmes didn't resist arrest.

With the suspect in the hands of fellow officers, Jonsgaard went inside the auditorium of the theater, where The Dark Knight Rises was still playing -- its soundtrack competing with a loud alarm. Just inside the exit, he saw an AR-15 rifle, several forty-round magazines and .223 rounds, plus a Remington shotgun. He then began searching for people in need of assistance and quickly found Veronica Moser-Sullivan. Unfortunately, she was beyond help. "I checked for a pulse. She was dead," he said.

Jonsgaard then asked another officer to take the little girl's body outside. He choked up as he recounted what happened next. "He told me later he thought he felt a pulse," the sergeant said. "But it was his own."

Eventually, Jonsgaard continued, the movie was silenced and officers pulled down the screen to make sure no one was hiding behind it. Then came the grim task of clearing victims from the theater. While doing so, he realized that the back door had been propped open about a quarter of an inch with what he described as a small piece of plastic resembling the items used to hold tablecloths on picnic tables. Later, he happened to see officers searching Holmes and noticed an identical plastic piece, suggesting that it had been on the suspect's person upon his arrest.

At this writing, the court is in recess for launch. Testimony is expected to begin again at 1:30 p.m.

Continue for earlier coverage of today's Aurora theater shooting preliminary hearing.