Obama's homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan notified him of the shooting early Friday morning as the president was preparing for a final day of campaign events in Florida.
After ordering his administration to do everything possible to support the people of the Colorado town in "this extraordinarily difficult time" Obama spoke by telephone with the mayor of Aurora and with Colorado's governor.
Then at his first stop in Fort Meyers, Florida he said the tragic shootings are a reminder to people of the importance of remaining united as "one American family."
"While we will never know fully what causes somebody to take the life of another we do know what makes life worth living," said Obama. "The people lost in Aurora loved and they were loved. They were mothers and fathers, they were husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. They had hopes for the future and they had dreams that were not yet fulfilled."
Obama said if there is anything to take away from the tragedy, it is the importance of how people treat and love one another.
He offered another observation, saying he and his wife Michelle were thinking of their daughters, Malia and Sasha, and parents of the victims as they heard the terrible news from Colorado.
"Michelle and I will be fortunate enough to hug our girls a little tighter tonight and I am sure you will do the same with your children, but for those parents who may not be so lucky we have to embrace them and let them know we will be there for them as a nation," Obama added.
President Obama asked supporters at what was supposed to be a presidential re-election campaign rally in Fort Meyers to join him in some moments of silence.
Saying there are "other days for politics," he ended the event and canceled another in Orlando, Florida, before heading back to Air Force One and the flight back to Washington.
The president, his wife Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden have canceled all campaign events for the time being. The Obama and Romney campaigns have suspended the airing of political ads on television on Colorado.
Likely Republican nominee Romney issued his own statement saying he and his wife were deeply saddened by the "senseless violence."
The Colorado shootings took place a short distance from shootings in 1999 at a high school in Columbine, Colorado. There are already renewed calls for re-examination of gun control laws.
The shootings in Aurora occurred a little over a year-and-a-half after shootings in Tucson, Arizona that killed six people and left many wounded, including a U.S. congresswoman.
President Obama delivered a memorable speech after that tragedy, calling on Americans to show more "kindness, generosity and compassion" to one another and for more civility in the national political discourse.
