Steven Ostergaard was having a rough trip at a convention in Colorado. He fell and broke his arm Wednesday, but was excited to see the new Dark Knight movie in Aurora, Colorado.
That night turned into a day he will never forget.
It hasn't settled with me yet, because I haven't accepted it as reality, because we've talked about it so much, it's like a story," Ostergaard said.
He heard a hiss, saw smoke and eventually heard the popping of what turned out to be gunshots as he sat in the theater adjacent to the shooting. An 18-year-old boy in his group was hurt.
He says, Ow, I'm hit! I'm bleeding! I turn around I see it and I grab him by his shirt and I pull him outside. I don't know why honestly, because I didn't think anything was wrong," Ostergaard said.
The chaos he saw is something he will never forget. In all, 12 were killed in the theater right next to where Ostergaard and his group were sitting that night. One of the victim's grew up a short distance from where 27-year-old Crystal Lake sailor John Larimer did.
"I'm just grateful that I'm safe and I'm able to tell my story because a kid the same age as me, graduated the same year as me in the town next door, died. It's weird for me because I don't know him, but he's the exact same age as me and for some reason we were both in the movie theater a thousand miles. Why him instead of me? It's hard to comprehend that," Ostergaard said.
Monday, May 20 2013 8:33 PM EDT2013-05-21 00:33:23 GMT
A Merrillville police officer shot a man Monday afternoon when the two got into a fight in the parking lot of the Merrillville Planned Parenthood office.
A Merrillville police officer shot a man Monday afternoon when the two got into a fight in the parking lot of the Merrillville Planned Parenthood office.
Monday, May 20 2013 5:52 PM EDT2013-05-20 21:52:14 GMT
Gov. Pat Quinn said Illinois lawmakers have a chance to make history on two fronts this month by approving a plan to fix the state's decades-old pension crisis and legalizing same-sex marriage.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Illinois lawmakers have a chance to make history on two fronts this month by approving a plan to fix the state's decades-old pension crisis and legalizing same-sex marriage.
