On March 22, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Ten people were killed, including a local on-duty police officer. The shooter, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, was arrested after being shot in the right leg. He was temporarily hospitalized before being moved to the county jail. After undergoing mental evaluations during the legal proceedings, Al-Issa was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in December 2021 and in April 2022. On August 23, 2023, prosecutors announced that Al-Issa was mentally competent to stand trial; a judge ruled as such on October 6 of that same year. On September 23, 2024, Al-Issa was found guilty in the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Events
Shooting
The shooting began shortly after 2:30 p.m. MDT (20:30 UTC) when a gunman entered the parking lot of a King Soopers supermarket and began to fire at people. He was described by witnesses as wearing an "armored" vest and holding a "rifle", which turned out to be a semi-automatic Ruger AR-556 AR-15 style pistol that was used in the shooting; he also carried a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. He was first seen by employees and customers who watched him shoot at customers in the parking lot before turning and entering the store. At the time, there were at least 115 people inside the building and at least 25 others in the parking lot.
The first victim was a repairman who was killed in a van parked next to the gunman's vehicle. The gunman then walked towards the store; along the way, he killed another person in the parking lot who was trying to flee, shooting him multiple times. Next, he killed one more person while entering the store through its eastern entrance.
A man waiting in line with his family for his COVID-19 vaccine at the store's pharmacy witnessed the gunman shoot a woman at the front of the line before finding safety in a coat closet with his family. Some customers and employees reached safety through a back exit for the supermarket. Some were praised for their actions in helping evacuate and hide individuals away from the gunman.
At 2:33 p.m., the Boulder Police Department began receiving calls of a person with a "patrol rifle" in the area and shots being fired. Witnesses at the scene reported hearing anywhere from 10 to 30 shots fired in rapid succession by the gunman. At 2:34 p.m., a Boulder Police dispatcher provided an initial description of the gunman as "a white male, middle-aged, dark hair, beard, black vest, short-sleeved shirt." The first three responding officers arrived at the scene within two minutes of the first calls and entered the store within 30 seconds of their arrival; at around 2:37 p.m., one of the other officers radioed in to say that they were going in. Running towards gunfire, one of the officers, Eric Talley, was shot and killed by the gunman. He was the last victim in the shooting, according to Boulder police.
Additional emergency response
Less than 30 seconds after Talley's death, additional officers entered the store. By 2:39 p.m., responding officers reported being fired upon repeatedly by the gunman. At around the same time, an armored police vehicle was used to break the store's front windows. Officers engaged the gunman in a shootout from 3 p.m. to 3:21 p.m. They also used a sound system to order him to surrender. According to police and witnesses, the gunman was laughing and occasionally mumbling. A store employee said that while she was hiding, she heard gunshots and screams and then only the store music and phones ringing afterward.
Police did not enter the store again until 3:22 p.m., fearing an ambush. When a team of ten officers from multiple agencies reentered, they encountered the gunman at one of the aisles within 20 seconds of their entry; he fired at them at least twice. One of the officers returned fire on two different occasions, eventually striking the gunman in the thigh. He surrendered by saying, "I surrender. I'm naked", and at 3:28 p.m., he was taken into custody using Talley's handcuffs. He had a leg gunshot wound at the time of his arrest, so he was first transported to Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital. Police eventually transferred him to the Boulder County Jail, where he was held without bond.
The assailant discharged his rifle 47 times during the shooting.
After the gunman was taken into custody, police searched through the store and evacuated people who had remained inside. A shelter-in-place order was issued in the area at 4:18 p.m. and lifted at 6:40 p.m. Up to 15 agencies responded to the shooting, including the Jefferson County SWAT, the Boulder Sheriff's Office, the University of Colorado Police Department, the FBI, the ATF, and local police departments. A fire department ladder truck was used to get a SWAT team onto the roof. At least three medical helicopters were summoned to a staging area at nearby Fairview High School.
Victims
Ten people were killed:
- Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; customer
- Suzanne Fountain, 59; customer
- Teri Leiker, 51; employee
- Kevin Mahoney, 61; customer
- Lynn Murray, 62; customer
- Rikki Olds, 25; manager
- Neven Stanišić, 23; repairman
- Denny Stong, 20; employee
- Eric Talley, 51; police officer
- Jody Waters, 65; customer
Officer Talley, who had been working with the Boulder Police Department since 2010, was one of the first police officers to arrive at the scene. His death marked the first time a Boulder police officer was killed in the line of duty since 1994 and only the sixth such death in the department's history. Seven of the victims died inside the store, while the other three died outside.
While Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold initially said several other police officers were injured during the response, the department later said that no other officers were injured. Aside from the suspect who was wounded by police, the only other injury from the shooting was a woman who fractured her back while trying to escape.
Perpetrator
Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa (or Alissa), then aged 21, is from nearby Arvada, Colorado. He was born in Raqqa, Syria, on April 17, 1999, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 2002 and moved to Arvada in 2014. Al-Issa's older brother said that Al-Issa has a history of paranoid, disturbed, and antisocial behavior that developed after Al-Issa was bullied in high school, and his brother was concerned for his mental health. Al-Issa was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2018 for punching a classmate at Arvada West High School. He pleaded guilty to an assault charge in relation to the incident, received a year of probation, and was ordered to undergo 48 hours of community service.
According to a police affidavit, Al-Issa bought a semi-automatic Ruger AR-556 pistol. Boulder police clarified in a news conference on March 26 that they believed the AR-556 pistol was the only weapon used by the suspect during the shooting and added that he also had a 9mm handgun with him. Al-Issa's identity was already known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation due to a link to another person under investigation by law enforcement officials.
Al-Issa expressed on Facebook and to his former high school wrestling teammates that he believed he was being targeted for harassment due to racism and Islamophobia. According to SITE Intelligence Group, "there was no indication on his Facebook account that suggested radical views of any kind, whether it be Islamist, anti-Trump, or anything else." Al-Issa's brother said he believed that the shootings were not a political statement. The Boulder County District Attorney waited to reveal more information about Al-Issa's motives while the FBI and other agencies were investigating the case, to help ensure a fair trial.
Aftermath
At around 8 p.m. on the day of the shooting, a procession honored Officer Eric Talley as his body was being taken to a funeral home. A separate memorial for the victims was created along a chain-link fence bordering the store, as mourners placed candles, flowers, and other items along its base or through the chain-link. The Museum of Boulder began collecting and preserving stories and artifacts from the memorial. On April 16, it started planning both short-term and permanent memorials with the City of Boulder. On May 12, the store was announced to be undergoing extensive renovations, with the expectation that it would reopen in late fall 2021.
Governor Jared Polis ordered the state's flags to fly at half-staff for ten days: one day for each victim. President Joe Biden also ordered flags on federal property nationwide to be flown at half-staff. This order came on the same day as the expiration of a federal order to fly flags at half-staff to honor the victims of the Atlanta spa shootings of March 16, less than a week before. A week after the shooting, Talley's funeral was held; it included a 21-gun salute and another procession.
Sports teams in Colorado and victims of other mass shootings expressed sympathy for the victims and family members of the Boulder shooting. A vigil for the victims and survivors of the shooting was held on March 25. U.S. Representative Joe Neguse, whose district includes Boulder, spoke at the vigil about curbing gun violence. University of Colorado Boulder professor and poet Khadijah Queen also spoke at the vigil, which was organized by gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that day, the family of one of the victims spoke about him and their appreciation for the outpouring of support.
As of June 29, more than $8 million in donations were collected by more than a dozen funds, primarily ones set up by Community Foundation Boulder County and the Colorado Healing Fund. However, victims' families criticized the organizations' distribution of the donations, saying that they were forced to produce bills and bank statements to receive support and that they were not given sufficient input into the money's distribution. They have since called for an independent audit into the distribution's methods.
The store remained closed for remodeling for almost a year. It was scheduled to reopen in January 2022, but the reopening was delayed due to a union strike until February 9. The redesigned store, including a prominent mural at the entrance, was previewed to the media the evening before. The reopening ceremony featured first responders and store employees. Dignitaries included King Soopers president Joe Kelly, Mayor Aaron Brockett, and Polis, a Boulder resident.
Investigation
After the shooting, police investigated if Al-Issa used a 30-round magazine in the shooting, and also whether other firearms were connected to him. They found that he was equipped with ten high-capacity magazines, all of which were found on him, or in his car parked outside the store. Subsequent to other mass shootings, possession of high-capacity magazines was banned in Colorado after 2013. The Boulder District Attorney said that there was no evidence the magazines were sold or obtained illegally, but that Al-Issa broke laws by having them on his person and in his vehicle.
Legal proceedings
After the shooting, Al-Issa was charged with ten counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Al-Issa's identity was revealed to the public on March 23, the day after the shooting. At Al-Issa's first court appearance on March 25, his lawyer asked for a mental health assessment. It was later reported that, due to "safety concerns and threats", Al-Issa was moved to another county.
On April 22, Al-Issa was charged with 43 new felony charges, including 32 counts of attempted murder, 10 counts of using a high-capacity magazine, and one count of first-degree assault. The 32 counts of attempted murder include those of 11 police officers, along with a number of civilians.
On May 25, Al-Issa was charged with 13 additional counts of attempted murder and 47 "crime of violence sentence enhancers". His next court appearance was a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 7. However, on September 1, Al-Issa's lawyers filed a motion to raise the issue of their client's mental competency during the trial, and the preliminary hearing was changed to an advisement hearing. On September 7, Al-Issa was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation at the Boulder County Jail, to be completed within three weeks. On September 28, the evaluation's due date was delayed to October 11, while a hearing to review the results was rescheduled for October 14.