Latest on the Colorado Supermarket Shooting

Police have identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect who opened fire inside a crowded Colorado supermarket in an attack that killed 10 people, including an officer, and sent terrorized shoppers and employees scrambling for cover.

The deadly attack began on Monday March 22 when dozens of local officers and federal agents swarmed a King Soopers grocery store after responding to an active shooter call just before 3 p.m. local time. The attack was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since a 2019 assault on a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 22 people in a rampage that police said targeted Mexicans.

The police have now identified the shooter as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21. Alissa was from the Denver suburb of Arvada.

Alissa, was booked into jail Tuesday on murder charges a day after the attack at a King Soopers grocery in Boulder. Alissa had bought an assault weapon on March 16, six days before the attack, according to an arrest affidavit. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said they have yet to establish a motive, however, law enforcement officials and former associates of the shooter described Alissa as someone prone to sudden rage who was suspended from high school for a sudden attack on a classmate that left the student bloodied.

Hundreds of police from throughout the Denver area responded to the attack, converging on a King Soopers supermarket in a busy shopping plaza. SWAT teams were positioned around the building and on the roof to secure the situation and usher people to safety. Officers said the as yet unidentified gunman was wielding an AR-15 rifle before being taken down and escorted out of the store in handcuffs. The suspect was injured and taken to the hospital, were he remained in police custody before being identified as Alissa.

In the aftermath of the shooting, police confirmed one of the victims was 51-year-old Officer Eric Talley, who joined the Boulder Police Department in 2010. The other victims have since been identified as Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Rikki Olds, Talona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray and Jody Waters. Their ages range from 20 to 65-years-old.

Investigators have yet to establish a motive for Alissa, but Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said authorities believe he was the only shooter. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press that the gunman used an AR-15 rifle semiautomatic rifle. Officials were trying to trace the weapon. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The suspect’s family told investigators they believed Alissa was suffering some type of mental illness, including delusions. Relatives described times when Alissa told them people were following or chasing him, which they said may have contributed to the violence, the official told AP.

“This is a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County,” Dougherty said. “These were people going about their day, doing their shopping. I promise the victims and the people of the state of Colorado that we will secure justice.”

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold identified the slain officer as Eric Talley, 51, who had been with the force since 2010. He was the first to arrive after responding to a call about shots fired and someone carrying a rifle, she said.

“He was by all accounts one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut too short,” Dougherty said.

Dozens of police and emergency vehicles, their lights flashing, escorted an ambulance carrying the slain officer from the shooting scene after nightfall. Some residents stood along the route, their arms raised in salute.

Monday’s attack was the seventh mass killing this year in the U.S., following the March 16 shooting that left eight people dead at three Atlanta-area massage businesses, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

It follows a lull in mass killings during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which had the smallest number of such attacks in eight years, according to the database, which tracks mass killings defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for a ban on assault weapons and tighter gun control measures as he stepped into the familiar role of grief counselor for a traumatized nation after yet another mass shooting.

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone another hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future,” Biden said, adding that “we can ban assault weapons.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that Biden may to “executive action” on gun control. Psaki did not specify what action Biden might take.

“We are considering a range of levers, including working through legislation, including executive action,” Psaki told reporters. “That has been under discussion and will continue to be under discussion.”