Colorado Shooting

The Case in Colorado

The Victims:

Denny Stong, 20
Neven Stanisic, 23
Rikki Olds, 25
Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
Eric Talley, 51
Suzanne Fountain, 59
Teri Leiker, 51
Kevin Mahoney, 61
Lynn Murray, 62
Jodi Waters, 65

“He loved his family more than anything. He wasn’t afraid of dying. He was afraid of putting them through it.”

Homer Talley, 74, whose son Eric Talley, 51, was among the ten victims killed in the shooting. Eric was a police officer with seven children, 7 – 20 years old.

The Suspect:

• Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21; resident of a Denver suburb.
• Reportedly a naturalized U.S. citizen whose family emigrated from Syria.
• Motive unknown. Charges include 10 counts of 1st degree murder.
• Prior record: 2018 misdemeanor assault conviction. Police report “at least two interactions” with him in recent years.
• Legally purchased a gun on March 16, similar to one found at the crime scene.

The Crime:

• March 22 (2:40 p.m.): Cops responded to calls of an active shooter at King Soopers, a local Boulder grocery store.
• Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with a shooter wearing a “tactical vest,” targeting people in different settings: outside the grocery store, inside a vehicle, inside the store.
• Alissa surrendered to SWAT team and asked to speak to his mother. Taken into custody at 3:28 p.m.

“He always suspected someone was behind him, someone was chasing him.”

Ali Aliwi Alissa, the 34-year-old brother of the shooter, who said he “kept a close eye” on his brother in high school because of his increasing paranoia. Fmr. classmates described the shooter as “joyful” at times, but quick to enrage. There is no known mental health diagnosis of the shooting suspect at this time.

“The suspect’s identity was previously known to the F.B.I. because he was linked to another individual under investigation by the bureau, according to law enforcement officials.”

The New York Times. The shooter was known to local law enforcement; this report suggests he was also known to federal authorities, raising questions about why and to what extent. How this figures into the investigation is TBD.

The alleged shooter is expected to appear in a Colorado courtroom on Thursday. His brother added in an interview: “I never thought he would kill. I still can’t believe it. I am really sad for the lives that he wasted, and I feel sorry for all those families. … We lost a brother even if he is the killer.”