Did NYC Police Commish Accidentally Reveal Fact in Colo. Shooting? Tells Media Shooter Painted Hair Red and Said He Was 'The Joker

(The Blaze/AP) — New York City's police commissioner says the gunman in the Colorado movie theater rampage had painted his hair red and called himself the Joker — the villain from the Batman movies. But was he supposed to?

(Related: Suspect in 'Dark Knight Rises' Shooting Identified)

Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Friday that he had been briefed about the shootings that killed 12 and wounded nearly 60 others at a showing of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" at a suburban Denver theater.

Kelly and his spokesman did not say who briefed him, although in a press conference on Friday afternoon Aurora, CO, Police Chief Dan Oates said he used to work for New York law enforcement. He declined to comment on the information when asked by reporters. .

Audio of Kelly's statements can be heard here.

“We have some information, most of it is public. It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red, he said he was ‘The Joker,’ obviously the ‘enemy’ of Batman,” Kelly said.

Some have pointed out that in the 2008 Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," The Joker's hair was actually green not red.

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates would not confirm the information about suspected gunman James Holmes, but confirmed he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York.

CBS New York reports that witnesses said Holmes was dressed as a SWAT team member with a bulletproof vest when he burst through an emergency exit of the theater, dropped two canisters of unknown gas and opened fire. The mass shooting has left 12 people dead and roughly 51 wounded.

Holmes was eventually arrested in the parking lot of the movie theater and did not resist police. He reportedly told police he had explosives in his home.

FBI and Aurora police confirmed that Holmes' apartment is "booby trapped" with canisters of fluid and wire triggers that they think could take "hours" or "days" to sort through, the Denver Post reports.

TMZ speculates that Holmes may have been trying to reenact a scene from "The Dark Knight" which features a scene where The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, wears a red wig before he demolishes a hospital with explosives. This can not be independently verified but the scene can be seen here:

Check back for updates -- we will add video of Kelly's comments as soon as it becomes available.