Wis. native recovering following Colo. theater shooting

Mequon native was shot in leg

MILWAUKEE — The father of a 27-year-old man shot in a Colorado movie theater said his son is walking with the help of a walker.

Carey Rottman and his friend were wounded by the gunman who killed 12 people and wounded many others early Friday during watching a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora.

Rottman was shot in the leg. He’s a native of Mequon, Wis., who studied business at Winona State in Minnesota.

His father Dale Rottman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel his son is doing well after surgery. He said he’s expected to undergo a second surgery on his leg and a skin graft between Sunday and Tuesday. He could be released from the hospital by Thursday.

He said his son will likely need physical therapy to recover, but the bullet did not damage his tendons or arteries.

His father said many friends have visited him.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Rottman’s friend was shot twice, but was recovering.

A 15-year-old Plymouth girl was in an adjacent theater when the gunman began shooting. Katie Trakel was not hurt. But she told The Sheboygan Press a stray bullet went through the wall and hit one of her friends in the arm.