The suspect in the Boulder, Colo. grocery store shooting that left 10 people dead is due to make his first appearance in court Thursday. Last night, hundreds of people gathered to mourn the victims and support those affected by the senseless gun violence.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, is facing 10 counts of murder in the first degree and one count of attempted murder over the horrific attack at a King Soopers supermarket. The victims include a police officer who responded to calls for help. The ages of those who died range from 20 to 65.
“The first-degree murder charges carry the possibly of a sentence of life without parole,” member station Colorado Public Radio reports. “Colorado abolished the death penalty last year.”
The suspected gunman is from Arvada, a suburb between Denver and Boulder. Before this week, Alissa had a criminal record that included a guilty plea to a misdemeanor assault charge in 2018. He paid a fine to resolve that case, according to court records.
Alissa surrendered to police after suffering a gunshot wound to his leg. That injury, a “through-and-through” wound, was treated at a hospital before Alissa was taken to the Boulder County Jail. He was taken into custody after removing most of his clothing – jeans, a long-sleeve shirt and a tactical vest – and walking backwards toward police, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Along with Alissa’s clothes, police recovered “a rifle (possible AR-15)” and a semiautomatic handgun, the court document states.
The arrest warrant affidavit for Alissa says he purchased a gun less than a week before the King Soopers shooting, citing official databases that show he bought a Ruger AR-556 on March 16.
The weapon used in the shooting is legally classified as a “pistol” in the U.S., but many people would likely consider it to be a rifle — and the affidavit repeatedly refers to it as one. The gun has the same lower receiver, the shell-like piece that houses the trigger, as AR-15 rifles that have been used in many other mass shootings in the United States.
The victims from Monday’s shooting are: Denny Stong, 20; Nevin Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Eric Talley, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; Jody Waters, 65.
