i had gun shells falling on my head, burning my forehead. all i smelled was powder. reporter: as the gunman fired again and again, it exploded into the theater next do. at that point i saw something come through the wall, multiple objects just coming through the wall. people stood up and started checking themselves. a couple people walked away and were holding areas. i heard moaning like they were in pain. reporter: back in theater 9, people were frantic, clam bering over the dead and injured to reach the exit. this cell phone video caught the frenzy. i was having trouble breathing because of that tear gas or whatever he had put in there. i said, i m going to suffocate if i don t get out of here, so we were just crawling, crawling. reporter: but jennifer said the gunman was firing on people as they tried to escape. all i saw were dead bodies and people that were lifeless. a 14-year-old girl was on the stairs, you know what i mean?
movie, a man in all black and wearing a gas mask appeared at the emergency door of theater 9. jennifer seegul was seated just feet away. i thought he was part of the show since it was the midnight premier. reporter: on screen, a shootout scene was unfolding. jennifer wondered if the guy coming up the aisle was part of the show, a publicity stunt. then he threw a grenade of gas and it exploded, all this gas. i thought, that was a special effect. nobody really knew what to think about it. reporter: without a word, he aimed his gun at the ceiling and fired a shot. that s when, jennifer says, everybody realized this was for real. everybody was r stastarting scream and run, and that rifle was in my face. i honestly didn t know what to think. i just instinctively jumped forward and into the aisle.