Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the Christopher Nolan series, was horrified by the Dark Knight shootings in Aurora, Colorado and is now visiting the victims. Twelve people were killed, and 58 were wounded when James Holmes opened fire at a midnight premiere showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora early Friday morning.

Warner Bros., the studio that released The Dark Knight Rises, told the Denver Post: “Mr. Bale is there as himself, not representing Warner Brothers.” Warner Brothers is showing their support too, by donating a “substantial” amount to Colorado’s Community First Foundation, a charity that is helping the shooting victims.

Bale released this statement Saturday:

“Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”

This is such a terrible tragedy, costing lives and creating suffering during what was supposed to be an entertaining and carefree event. It doesn’t change what happened, but Christian Bale’s compassionate visit probably mean a lot to the victims. Hopefully he’ll also meet up with some of the families of the deceased.

Here’s Christian with shooting survivor Carey Rottman (via @DenverChannel):

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