Texas Sportscaster Killed in Colorado Rampage

Woman tweeted moments before massacre began

An aspiring sportscaster from San Antonio was among the 12 killed in a shooting rampage inside a Colorado theater overnight Thursday, multiple news outlets are reporting.

Jessica Ghawi had recently moved to Denver to pursue her career in sports reporting, KSAT-TV reported early Friday after receiving a confirmation of her death from her parents.

According to a blog post by her brother, Ghawi and friend Brent Lowak, of Bulverde, attended the premiere for The Dark Knight Rises at the Cinemark Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colo.

Prior to the massacre, Ghawi, aka Jessica Redfield, took to Twitter moments before the gunfire erupted overnight about being at the premiere and about her shock at having to convince a friend to attend with her.

"Never thought I'd have to coerce a guy into seeing the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises with me," she tweeted.

Lowak was also injured in the shooting, though he is expected to recover.

Ghawi's brother, Jordan, blogged about learning of the shooting before he left San Antonio for Denver Friday morning.

In his blog he said his sister had been shot twice, once in the head, according to Lowak.

An update later in the day described the incident in more detail:

"Jessica and Brent were seated in the middle portion of the theatre when a device was thrown into the theatre that produced a "hissing" sound. The theatre than began to fill with smoke which is when patrons began to move from their seats. At that time, shots were fired. Brent and Jessica immediately dropped to a prone position for cover. Jessica advised multiple times for someone to call 911, which Brent immediately attempted to do. Brent then heard Jessica scream and noticed that she was struck by a round in the leg. Brent, began holding pressure on the wound and attempted to calm Jessica. It was at this time that Brent took a round to his lower extremities. While still administering first aid, Brent noticed that Jessica was no longer screaming. He advised that he looked over to Jessica and saw what appeared to be an entry wound to her head. He further stated that Jessica presented with agonal respirations. Brent then took what may have been his only chance to escape the line of fire and exited the structure where he then contacted my mother. The veracity of any other statements not issued by myself or Peter Burns should be questioned."

In an odd twist of fate, Ghawi had narrowly escaped another shooting just weeks before inside Toronto's Eaton Centre shopping mall.  She blogged about the experience here.

Ghawi had interned at KENS-TV and radio stations in San Antonio prior to her move to the Denver area.

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