Family, friends pay tribute to victim who died shielding his girlfriend

When the accused gunman in the Colorado shooting rampage appeared in court on Monday, Tom Teves, father of a young man who died shielding his girlfriend, felt he had a duty to be in court.

"Somebody had to be in the courtroom to say, you know what, you went in with ballistic protection and guns. You shot a 6-year-old! I mean, give me a break," Teves said after the court hearing.

"And then when the cops came you gave up? You've got the ballistic protection on - take on some guys who know how to use guns," he said.

Teves' son Alex was killed in the hail of gunfire unleashed during what began as a festive midnight premiere on Friday for the new Batman film in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Alex Teves, 24, died as he shielded his girlfriend, Amanda Lindgren, from harm in the chaos of the dark theater.

James Holmes, who was arrested outside the theater shortly after the massacre, said nothing during his first court appearance and may not have noticed Tom Teves.

Lindgren, also 24, had tears pouring down her face as she talked about her love for Alex, who she said was her best friend before they started dating.

"He protected me. My baby didn't hesitate. I was very confused, and he didn't hesitate," Lindgren said.

Ryan Cooper, who knew Teves from their time at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix and then together at the University of Arizona, said his friend was "absolutely hilarious" and transcended social borders.

"Every single day of high school, he would wear jeans and a plain white T-shirt, every single day. There was not a single day he didn't," Cooper said.

Amanda Lindgren, right, girlfriend of Alex Teves, speaks as Alex's parents, Tom Teves and his wife Caren, listen during an interview after the preliminary hearing for shooting suspect James Holmes in Centennial, Colorado, on Monday. Alex Teves was killed while protecting Lindgren during the mass shooting in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater at the midnight screening of the new Batman movie on July 20. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

"One day a bunch of his friends said, 'We're going to have an Alex Tuesday'. And the entire school wore jeans and a plain white T-shirt. There were hundreds of people. That was just a testament to who he was."

On Monday, Tom Teves wavered between sadness and anger, tears welling up in his eyes as he criticized the man accused of killing his son of cowardice.

"My kid is dead and he's never coming back, and he was one of the best people on Earth. And I gotta look at that coward walking into court," he said.

"And I saw the coward in court today. Alex could have wiped the floor with him without even breaking a sweat."

The family is planning memorial services in Arizona and New Jersey.

"We're gonna miss him terribly and we love him, but we know he's in heaven and he's gonna be OK," Teves said. "We're the ones who are going to suffer."

Reuters