AURORA, Colo. (MCT) — A little more than a week before the shootings at a crowded movie theater, it appears suspect James Holmes was already looking to beat a retreat from the small apartment where he lived, one that would soon be turned into an explosives-laced deathtrap.

Half a block from his building — now surrounded by yellow police tape, with broken shards of glass dangling where windows used to be — Holmes had stopped to chat with neighbors, telling them he was looking for a new apartment. He wondered whether anything was available in their building.