Suspect Holmes killed 12 and injured over 50 in his "The Dark Knight Rises" rampage. (via Creative Commons, marvelousRoland)

Early Saturday morning, law enforcement officials in Aurora, CO began dismantling the complex explosive booby traps surrounding and in shooting suspect James Holmes' apartment.

Holmes, the suspected shooter in Friday's "The Dark Knight Rises" midnight premiere massacre, had set up numerous trip wires attached to containers with various chemicals. Both local and federal agents have been carefully disassembling the booby traps by setting off controlled detonations, and residents in five buildings surrounding Holmes' have been evacuated.

According to a law enforcement source of The Daily Beast, the setup of Holmes' apartment was a way to further the overall casualties of his attack, saying:

"He wanted to kill as many people as possible. It [the booby traps] was designed to take out as many first responders who would go through the front door."

As of Saturday afternoon, most of the entrance booby traps have been neutralized, though according to the New York Times, Sgt. Cassidee Carlson of the Aurora Police Department warned that there was still a ways to go before the apartment could be deemed safe, saying:

"There still remains all kinds of hazards inside the apartment. We will remain here for hours to collect evidence and mitigate those hazards."

Officials are currently working on the second phase of dismantling Holmes' apartment, a process in which a triggering mechanism might be used to detonate all of the remaining explosive traps.

See more of NT's coverage on the Colorado shootings here.

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