Veronica Moser-Sullivan was six years old when she attended a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado, on the evening of July 20, 2012. She had just learned to swim and was about to start first grade. During the screening, a man wearing tactical gear set off tear gas and opened fire on the audience; Veronica was fatally wounded and became the youngest of the 12 people killed in the attack. Her mother, Ashley Moser, was critically injured and suffered paralysis and a miscarriage.

The suspect, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes, was taken into custody in the theater parking lot without resisting and was found with several legally purchased firearms. Authorities also discovered explosives booby-trapped in his apartment that were later defused by a bomb squad. Holmes was charged in the attack, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and was later tried and convicted on all counts.