Due to the live nature of Tonight, we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. In breaking news ` a gunman's run riot in a Denver movie theatre, killing 14 and injuring dozens more. A man's charged with murder after a woman is found dead in a Tauranga driveway. And we meet the last surviving member of the Olympic team we sent to London 64 years ago. Our ridge is now facing a double threat as fronts close in on both ends of the country. What that means for our weekend weather, just ahead. Kia ora. Good evening. We begin with breaking news from the United States tonight where a masked gunman has gone on a shooting rampage in a packed movie theatre. These are the facts we have so far. 14 people have been killed and at least 50 others injured after a man opened fire in the cinema in Aurora, Colorado, just next to the city of Denver. These are live pictures from the scene where police say that the gunman entered the Century 16 theatre 15 minutes into the late-night screening of the new batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. He let off a smoke canister and then, according to witnesses, he began walking up the aisles firing at random. The witness that was in theatre nine was a young woman. She was talking to me. I had asked her what theatre she was in, and she said nine, and I just asked her if she saw anything or if anything happened. What she described ` at first I didn't translate it quite well. It sounded like madness to me. She said that a man about 6ft tall, taller than her, kicked through the door, and he was in, she said, a riot helmet. She said he had a bulletproof vest on. She said that he was completely covered in all black with goggles. And she said that after that point, when she saw that he was holding a shotgun, her and her boyfriend dropped to the floor and just started to crawl to see if they could get away. They got up and started to run through the emergency exit. She said that when she turned around, all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing, just picking random people. 10 people died inside the theatre while a further four people died in hospital soon after. Police swarmed the area and found the gunman in a car at the back of the theatre's car park. He had with him a rifle, a hand gun and other weapons. Police believe he acted alone and have taken him into custody. The suspect was in custody and made statements about explosives in possession at his residence. At this time there is a residence in North Aurora, an apartment building, that we have evacuated, and we are dealing potentially with explosives that are inside there. Um... We are also concerned about explosives in the parking lot, hence the parking lot's completely sealed off. The theatre has been secured, and forensic work is expected to go on for some time. All witnesses have been taken to a nearby high school for questioning. A 64-year-old man's been charged with murder following the death of a woman in Tauranga today. Emergency services were called to a dispute between a man and a woman in the suburb of Judea mid-afternoon. On arrival officers found her body in the driveway. Police say the man and woman involved in the argument were known to one another. A scene examination's still being carried out, and it's hoped a post mortem will determine how the woman died. The man will appear in the Tauranga district court tomorrow. Animal welfare groups say the sentence handed down to two men who shot dead 33 dogs is too soft. Tony Campbell and Russell Mendoza will serve time at home for what the SPCA described as the worst case of animal cruelty it's seen. Ruth Wynn-Williams was in court. Tony Campbell walked out of court today... I've got nothing to say. ...to begin a six-month sentence at home. The other man involved, Russell Mendoza, will also serve his six months at home ` next door to where the two men shot more than 30 dogs. I believe this certainly should have been a jail sentence. No question of that. The dogs' former owner agrees. Didn't care where they shot or how they shot or how many or what. In all, the pair executed 10 dogs and more than 20 tiny puppies on the Wellsford property. They were also found guilty of recklessly using a firearm for what the court labelled a 'commando-style killing spree'. In sentencing, the judge said it was a 'miracle' only the dogs were hurt. They just lost their plot and shot everything they saw living, pretty much, except for me. The carnage left SPCA investigators shocked. Can only be described as bloodthirsty, cruel, inhumane. A killing spree led by Campbell. He was more experienced with firearms. He was the primary instigator of this... spree of cruel destruction. Tony Campbell didn't want to speak on camera, but he told ONE News he still thinks the guilty verdict is unfair. He believes his neighbour's dogs were dangerous, and he says he was only trying to help. They're my family. Mendoza and Campbell will pay reparation to cover the financial cost at least, and both men will serve 300 hours of community service. Campbell will spend that time with the SPCA. Ruth Wynn-Williams, ONE News. Let's head back overseas and to Syria, where there are signs President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power may be weakening tonight. These are the latest developments in the last couple of hours. Russia's envoy to Paris reports al-Assad has agreed to leave power in an orderly way. Syrian officials have denied the report, but have confirmed the country's intelligence chief has died of wounds sustained in the bombing that killed three other top defence officials on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the United Nations estimates as many as a million Syrians have been displaced in the conflict, with another 30,000 fleeing for Lebanon in the last two days. That comes after rebels seized control of several border crossings and fierce fighting continued in the capital. The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports. Syrian rebels seized one of the crossings into Turkey, dismantling the welcome portrait of President Bashar al-Assad. Something similar was reported from the border with Iraq. When a state loses control of its frontiers, even for a day, it's a sign of great weakness. GUNFIRE Rebel fighters are still shooting in the centre of Damascus. These are unverified pictures, but there are many reports from the city that areas once considered regime strongholds have been affected. Syrian State TV showed president Assad swearing in a new defence minister. Presumably his TV appearance was designed to show calmness and strength. In the right-hand screen was the failed attempt to increase pressure on him in the Security Council. International diplomacy's deadlocked because the Security Council can't agree on what to do next. At the UN in New York, Russia and China vetoed a Western-supported attempt to strengthen sanctions. The Russians argued it might lead to military intervention. At the Security Council, the Syrian ambassador blamed foreigners for causing the trouble at home. That has been the Assad regime's consistent line since the uprising started. President Assad's strategy, with smoke rising over Damascus, needs to overturn one crucial development if his regime is to survive. Even though his side has the tanks and heavy weapons, the armed opposition is showing more coordination and strength than ever before. Allegiance is at the centre of a spreading sectarian war. The rebel fighters ` these are more unverified pictures ` are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The chances are that they're shooting at elite units and militias dominated by men from the President's Alawite sect, who believe that their future depends on his survival. But a majority of Syrian soldiers, like the rebels, are Sunnis. There has to be a question mark over their loyalty to the President. Back here the accused's right to silence has tonight come under the spotlight in a criminal justice debate in Wellington this evening. The Sensible Sentencing Trust wants it abolished. The defence lawyer for Ewen Macdonald went up against the father of murder victim Sophie Elliot. Renee Graham was there. Greg King's a familiar face from the Scott Guy murder trial. But now the defence lawyer's debating our justice system up against the father of murder victim Sophie Elliot. She was killed in 2008 by her ex-boyfriend and university tutor, Clayton Weatherston. Mr King was Weatherston's defence lawyer. That Gil Elliot can ever be in the same room as me, the man who was part of the defence team for Clayton Weatherston, I think speaks an enormous amount of him and his genuine and profound commitment for reform and for justice. One topic heating up debate in Wellington's Victoria University ` the right to silence. Ewen Macdonald didn't take the witness stand, because the defence says he'd done 40 hours worth of police interviews, which the jury watched. Gil Elliot says that's nonsense. OK, he went through a police interview, but a police interview is not the same as a cross examination under oath in a court room, is it? If you're accused of something you know that you didn't do, I would have thought it's a natural human right to shout from the highest pillar, the highest hill that you are innocent. But Greg King says getting rid of the right to silence would compromise a fair trial for some defendants. To force some young, uneducated, naive person in a trial where they've facing a sentence of life imprisonment into a witness box so they can get to the truth is not a fair battle. You get an experienced lawyer, and they'll tear that kid to shreds. Whether they're guilty or innocent don't matter a damn. Mr King wants a warrant system set up instead, where police can apply to a court for a compulsion warrant, forcing defendants to answer questions. Gill Elliot says Clayton Weatherston made it a lot worse for himself when he took the stand. What did he do? Well, he tried to explain to everyone, to his fault, and what did he actually do? Well, he just dug a big hole for himself. All these high profile debaters want the same end ` a safer society and better justice system. Clearly, it's more difficult to reach a consensus on just how to do that. Renee Graham, ONE News. The company director of a Wellington bus company is in intensive care tonight after being run over by one of his firm's own buses. It's the latest in a string of accidents involving buses and pedestrians in the city. Simon Bradwell reports. The kerb's so close to where the buses are actually driving. Like, you step off the kerb, you're going to get hit by a bus. The buses are going pretty quick, and some people are just zoned out, and they just walk across the road sometimes. I can see how they go very close and there could be a few problems. Problems that appear to be on the rise. In the last two years, 22 pedestrians have been injured by buses in the capital; one fatally. That compares to 14 injured in the two years previously. Many occurred since the re-routing of bus lanes through the city ` a situation the deputy mayor is looking at closely. Well, every accident is one too many. Just yesterday, Tim Brown, ironically a director of the company that runs the city's buses, was hit by one at this intersection. He's now in a serious condition in hospital with head injuries. In a statement, the bus company says it's offering on-site counselling services to staff. NZ Bus says it's working with authorities and commencing its own investigation into the cause of this terrible accident. And on the streets, there's sympathy for those behind the wheel. Definitely pedestrians, I think, need to give a bit more respect to bus drivers. And the council says they will investigate the latest accident to see if they need to add more safety measures. We've instituted a number of measures already on this, what we call the golden mile ` reduced speed limits, improved sight lines, etc. Hoping for greater safety for those on foot and on wheels. Simon Bradwell, ONE News. The alert level's been slightly raised at Mt Tongariro after a swarm of small volcanic earthquakes. The new level-one status means there are signs of volcanic unrest in the central North Island mountain. Though experts are keeping an eye on the volcano, they say there isn't any immediate danger. The scale goes from zero to five. Just ahead ` We ask the US Navy why our ships still aren't welcome in Pearl Harbor. And find out what you'd get a whiff of in space. # Rendezvous. # Make any moment magic with an enchanting boost of fragrance. ENGINE RATTLES SONIC CRACKLING, ZAPPING Debt comes in all shapes and sizes. SONIC CRACKLING, ZAPPING Sometimes borrowing is a smart thing to do,... SONIC ZAPPING INTENSIFIES ...and sometimes it isn't. SONIC ZAPPING SOARS Shrink your dumb debt. It's all part of being sorted. 1 Let's go back to our main story tonight, where 14 people have been killed and 50 others injured in a mass shooting in a movie theatre in Colorado. This is the latest amateur footage we've received showing people running out of the theatre soon after the gunman opened fire. Some are visibly injured, with gunshot wounds to their chests and backs. Witnesses describe seeing a masked man enter the theatre before setting off an explosive device that filled the room with gas. He then opened fire on random people. 10 were killed in the theatre, and another four died later in hospital. The head of the world's biggest navy exercise has spoken for the first time about a ban against NZ ships in Pearl Harbour. American Vice-Admiral Gerald Beaman says it's a long-standing political decision, which is outside his control. Our US correspondent Jack Tame reports from Hawaii. 42 ships; 25,000 military personnel. The RIMPAC maritime exercise off Hawaii is the world's biggest, and US Vice Admiral Gerald Beaman is the commanding officer. It's an opportunity to bring together a team now in a training environment, as opposed to once a world event might take place. NZ's ships Te Kaha and Endeavour are participating in both parts of the exercise. After weapons testing and the combat-tactical phase,... BOOM! ...the emphasis is now on training for humanitarian aid. But as a result of NZ's ban on nuclear ships, when they dock in Hawaii, our Navy's ships aren't allowed inside Pearl Harbor. That what a policy decision. That was outside of the purview of the RIMPAC exercise. From the main docks here in Pearl Harbor, it's 15 minutes or so to the docks assigned for NZ ships. But there has been a benefit for Kiwi sailors ` here, they've discovered, they're rather closer to the Honolulu nightlife. There are six countries this year participating in RIMPAC for the first time. Still, there's one very noticeable absence from the invite list: China. And the US insists the exercise isn't just a show of force to the Chinese government. The United States has, however, begun a tactical shift with its naval fleets, moving more ships to the Pacific. And it says in the next few years, RIMPAC exercises will be critical in strengthening its allied Pacific force. Jack Tame, ONE News, Honolulu, Hawaii. Now, ever wondered if space has a smell? Well, astronauts have revealed it does have a very distinct odour. They describe it as a cross between gun metal and seared steak. NASA's now hired a chemist to develop a scent along those lines, to be used in training astronauts so they'll know what to expect when they reach space. Just ahead ` find out who the new Blackcaps coach is. And we meet the last surviving member of the NZ team of the post-war Olympics. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEPING INCREASES Could I have a price check on TENA bladder weakness liners, register 7? Well, it's just a slight weakening of the pelvic muscles. It's no big deal. One in three women have it, so one of them probably has it. I'm fine with it. Do you have a loyalty card? It's no big deal with TENA. In sport and rugby league, Stephen Kearney is no longer head coach of the Eels. Or is he? Confusion reigned today over just when the Kiwis coach will leave Parramatta despite quitting the post. Australia correspondent Steve Marshall explains. The statement was clear-cut,... I've decided to resign from my position as senior coach of the club. ...but Stephen Kearney's departure date is not. Just like the Eels' on-field performance, today's announcement has been pretty much a shambles. Neither Kearney or the CEO could actually say when the coach will be departing. We'll sit down in the next few days and work that out. But Kearney wants out. He told me in private that tomorrow night's match against the Storm will likely be his last after failing to replicate international success at club level. We could go through a thousand reasons why and why not and how and how come. But I'm not here, you know, to give you all those reasons today. Kearney's record reads just nine wins from 41 games. But he insists he wasn't pushed. It's my decision. Yep. Kearney's the fifth Eels coach to depart in the past six years. Oh, there's enormous pressure, there's no doubt. The scrutiny of the Sydney media when you are not winning games is furnace-like. It's been a real difficult four months, to be fair, and it's been really challenging at times. The under-performing Eels players accept some of the blame. In a way, we feel partly responsible, yes, for the results we're... we've been giving out. Kearney's keen on returning home to focus on his role as Kiwis coach. Potentially, that's a role... a full-time role, which I think I am very passionate about, and which I could easily slip into. He might have lacked results, but Kearney still commands respect, and his passion for rugby league remains. Steve Marshall, ONE News, Sydney. As Kearney quits, NZ Cricket's appointing its fifth coach in less than four years. Otago's Mike Hesson ` whose previous coaching roles included Argentina and, until two months ago, Kenya ` beat 21 other applicants for the job. He brings a new freshness to the role. He's very intelligent, well organised and well rounded. The 37-year-old, who started his coaching career in 1998, has been signed for three years. Very much looking forward to getting to know the players and working with them and trying to work out ways of getting better and more consistent. Hesson will take charge once the underwhelming tour of the West Indies is completed. Weather time now with Renee. Hi, everyone. The ridge is really trying to stay with us tomorrow, but it gets squeezed on two sides as these systems push closer. The southern front makes landfall, but this system will still be held at bay for now, although the isobars crunching up over northern districts are producing a strong easterly up there. For weather, see onenews.co.nz And that's your weather. Have a great weekend. London will become the first city to host the Olympic Games three times. Its first was in 1908, the next was 40 years later after WWII. NZ sent a team of just seven to that event. Charlotte Whale met the last surviving member. ARCHIVE: The NZ team for the 1948 Olympic Games, to be held in London, is leaving Auckland by the Port Hobart. It was 64 years ago, but Ngaire Galloway remembers setting sail to London like it was yesterday. ARCHIVE: Time to say goodbye. We were dreadfully seasick for the first two or three days at least. There were six in our cabin, so it was... you had to be very chummy. (CHUCKLES) The seven Kiwis had to keep up their training on the ship ` especially difficult for Ngaire, who was competing in backstroke. And, of course, we weren't used to overseas competition. We'd had very very little contact with overseas people at all. So it was very daunting. As was heading to London post-war. London was in a very very sad state when we saw it. But the real battle of nerves came on race day. It was terrifying to stand there on the starting block, with all these hundreds of people in the stands all calling out. Finishing under her best times in the qualifying rounds, there was no medal for Ngaire. The team's manager, David Woodfield, wasn't much help. It was widely believed he preferred London's pubs to his responsibilities. When I got to London, I had no idea where I was going to... I could do any training. And he didn't do anything to help in that respect. I had to find my own place to train, which was actually very difficult. Great days. Great days that are now happy memories. Charlotte Whale, ONE News. That's it from us here on Tonight. Thanks for joining us. Pomarie. Goodnight. Captions by Glenna Casalme and Hugo Snell. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air.