Colorado shooting suspect was under psychiatrist's care

A former University of Colorado graduate student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at a Denver-area movie theatre last week had been under the care of a psychiatrist who was part of a campus threat-assessment team.

"[He] was a psychiatric patient of Dr. Fenton, and his communications with her are protected," documents said.

Fenton, medical director for student mental health services at the University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, provides medication and psychotherapy for grad students in addition to her teaching duties, according to a school website.

A professional biography of Fenton posted on the site said she had conducted research on schizophrenia, including a two-year grant to work in the schizophrenia research department of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2008 to 2010.

It could not be ascertained if Fenton was caring for Holmes under the threat-assessment program or under routine counselling she provided to students on campus.

The university, where Holmes had been enrolled as a doctoral student of neuroscience, confirmed earlier this week that a suspicious package was delivered by mail on Monday and that it was "immediately investigated and handed over to authorities within hours."