Boulder Police Identify 21-Year-Old Man As Suspect In Killing Of 10 People At Colorado Supermarket

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) —Police on Tuesday identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect in the killing of 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket.

Suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was from Arvada, Colorado, and had lived most of his life in the U.S., said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. He was undergoing treatment at a hospital and was expected to be booked into the county jail later Tuesday, Dougherty said.

Authorities also identified nine victims after previously identifying a police officer who had been killed.

The victims ranged in age from 20 to 65, said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold. The shooting Monday at the crowded supermarket sent terrorized shoppers and workers scrambling for safety and stunned a state and a nation that has grieved several mass killings.

Herold said police engaged in a shootout with the suspect inside the supermarket and that is when Officer Eric Talley was killed.

Investigators don’t know yet why the suspect opened fire inside the grocery store, Dougherty said. He said the investigation is in the early stages but that detectives believe the suspect was the only shooter, Dougherty said. A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting told The Associated Press that the gunman used an AR-15 rifle, a lightweight semi-automatic rifle. Officials were working fast to trace the gun. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below.

A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer, and a suspect was in custody, authorities said.

Boulder police Cmdr. Kerry Yamaguchi said at a news conference that the suspect was being treated but didn’t give more details on the shooting or how many people were killed. A short time later, police said 10 people including a police officer were killed.

Officers escorted a shirtless man with blood running down his leg out of the store in handcuffs but authorities would not say if that was the suspect.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said authorities know how many people were killed and suggested they are not releasing the number because they need to notify families of the victims.

Yamaguchi said police were still investigating and didn’t have details on the motive.

A man who had just left the store in Boulder, Dean Schiller, told The Associated Press that he heard gunshots and saw three people lying face down, two in the parking lot and one near the doorway. He said he “couldn’t tell if they were breathing.”

Video posted on YouTube showed one person on the floor inside the King Soopers store and two more outside on the ground, but the extent of their injuries wasn’t clear. What sounds like two gunshots are also heard at the beginning of the video.

One person was taken from the shooting scene to Foothills Hospital in Boulder, said Rich Sheehan, spokesman for Boulder Community Health, which operates the hospital. Sheehan said he could not provide additional details but did say that “we have been notified we will not be receiving any additional patients.”

Law enforcement vehicles and officers massed outside the store, including SWAT teams, and at least three helicopters landed on the roof in the city that’s home to the University of Colorado and is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Denver.

Some windows at the front of the store were broken. At one point, authorities over a loudspeaker said the building was surrounded and that “you need to surrender.” They said to come out with hands up and unarmed.

Sarah Moonshadow told the Denver Post that two shots rang out just after she and her son, Nicolas Edwards, finished buying strawberries. She said she told her son to get down and then “we just ran.”

Once they got outside, she said they saw a body in the parking lot. Edwards said police were speeding into the lot and pulled up next to the body.

“I knew we couldn’t do anything for the guy,” he said. “We had to go.”

James Bentz told the Post that he was in the meat section when he heard what he thought was a misfire, then a series of pops.

“I was then at the front of a stampede,” he said.

Bentz said he jumped off a loading dock out back to escape and that younger people were helping older people off of it.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis tweeted a statement that his “heart is breaking as we watch this unspeakable event unfold in our Boulder community.” He called it “very much an active situation” and said the state was “making every public safety resource available to assist the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department as they work to secure the store.”

Boulder police had told people to shelter in place amid a report of an “armed, dangerous individual” about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away from the grocery store but later lifted it and police vehicles were seen leaving the residential area near downtown and the University of Colorado. They had said they were investigating if that report was related to the shooting at the supermarket but said at the evening news conference that it wasn’t related.

The FBI said it’s helping in the investigation at the request of Boulder police.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting.

In a statement, the King Soopers chain offered “thoughts, prayers, and support to our associates, customers, and the first responders who so bravely responded to this tragic situation. We will continue to cooperate with local law enforcement and our store will remain closed during the police investigation.”

Kevin Daly, owner of Under the Sun Eatery and Pizzeria Restaurant a block or so from the supermarket, said he was in his shop when he saw police cars arriving and shoppers running from the grocery store. He said he took in several people to keep them warm, and others boarded a bus provided by Boulder police and were taken away.

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Associated Press reporters James Anderson and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this story.