Colorado Shooting Suspect Had Prior Background Check

A University of Colorado spokeswoman says a criminal background check was done on theater shooting suspect James Holmes before the July 20 attack.

Jacque Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the university's Denver campus, said Thursday a court gag order prevented her from discussing who requested the check, who performed it, and who saw the results.

Holmes had been a neuroscience graduate student at the university but told officials in June he was withdrawing.

Montgomery's statement was believed to be the first explicit public confirmation that a check had been done on Holmes' background before the shootings.

Montgomery did say that Campus Police Chief Doug Abraham was referring to that background check when he said at a July 23 news conference that Holmes had only a minor infraction on his record.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)