Aurora officials wait for President Obama to exit Air Force One on Sunday. (Liz Goodwin/Yahoo)
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.--President Obama arrived at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora Sunday afternoon and was greeted by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates. The four swiftly departed in a motorcade as lightning struck only a few miles away from the tarmac.
They are headed to the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora for a brief visit with victims of Friday's mass shooting during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" movie. Ten victims are still at the hospital, seven of them in critical condition. The president is expected to make remarks to the press after the visit.
Obama departs at 6 pm for San Francisco, to kick off a three-day campaign tour that involves fundraisers in multiple states. Both Obama and challenger Mitt Romney pulled campaign ads in Colorado, a battleground state, after the tragedy, and cancelled campaign events. The Obama campaign will not run ads for at least two more days, and the Romney campaign has announced that their ads are suspended indefinitely in the state.
Local leaders welcomed the president's visit. "As awful as what they've been through and what they're going through has been having the president here is very, very powerful," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said on CBS "Face the Nation" Sunday.