Monday’s mass shooting at a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store that left 10 dead was the latest in an agonizing series of massacres that have beleaguered the state for more than 20 years.
The lingering epidemic of gun violence began on April 20, 1999, when 12 students and a teacher were gunned down in a rampage at Columbine High School in suburban Denver.
The two teenage boys responsible for the tragedy also wounded two dozen others before taking their own lives.
The victims of Monday's shooting in Boulder have been identified as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Eric Talley, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65. The suspect was named as 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa.
Nearly 13 years later, on July 20, 2012, a gunman wearing a gas mask fired into a crowded movie theater in Aurora, killing 12 and wounding 70. The shooter, 24-year-old James Holmes, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
And now, nine years later, another bloodbath at the hands of a gunman with a high-powered rifle has left the Colorado community and an entire nation reeling again.
“Today we saw the face of evil,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said late Monday. “I am grieving with my community and all Coloradans.”
The shooting at a crowded King Soopers store in the southern part of Boulder Monday also claimed the life of a city police officer, identified as 51-year-old Eric Talley, who was the first to respond to the scene, according to authorities.
The 11-year veteran of the force leaves behind a wife and seven children.
“He was by all accounts one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut too short,” said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
The names of the other dead were released Tuesday morning, read aloud by Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold at a news conference. The victims ranged in age from 20 to 65.
Among them was Rikki Olds, a 25-year-old employee of the store.
Others named were Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
The American flag at the White House has been lowered to half-staff to honor those killed.
Police have charged 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa of Arvada, Colorado, with 10 counts of first-degree murder, according to numerous reports.
The lone suspect, who was reportedly armed with an AR-15, was in custody Tuesday morning, although his motive has not yet been revealed.
Court documents showed that Alissa purchased an assault rifle less than a week before the attack that killed 10 people, including a police officer.
Supermarket employees told investigators that Alissa shot an elderly man multiple times outside the Boulder grocery store before going inside, according to the documents. Another person was found shot in a vehicle next to a car registered to the suspect’s brother. The documents did not say where the gun was purchased.
Video footage from the scene showed a shirtless man in shorts and no shoes being brought out of the store and led away in handcuffs, with blood streaming down his leg. By Tuesday morning, he was reportedly in stable condition at a local hospital. He is expected to be booked into the Boulder County Jail after his release from the hospital.
Monday’s midafternoon 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 spa businesses, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
The Boulder massacre follows a lull in mass killings during the pandemic in 2020, which had the smallest number of such attacks in more than a decade, according to the database, which tracks mass killings defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter.
“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.”
Like in previous tragedies, widespread calls for gun control were ringing out around the country on the morning after another unspeakable loss of life.
Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat whose district includes Boulder, said Tuesday on “CBS This Morning” that “enough is enough” when it comes to political impasses that keep gun control laws from passing Congress.
“The time for inaction is over. It does not have to be this way. There are commonsense gun legislation reform proposals that have been debated in Congress for far too long,” Neguse said. “The gun lobby and so many others have stopped the ability to make meaningful reforms in the past, but that’s no excuse. I think the American people are tired of excuses. So it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves in the Congress and muster the political will power to actually get something done.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting. The commander in chief was certain to feel pressure from Democrats and others to ramp up a push for gun control in the wake of the Boulder shooting.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Biden noted that “less than a week after the horrific murders of eight people in Georgia, another American city has been scarred by gun violence.” He then called on the U.S. Senate to “immediately pass” gun violence legislation, adding that “we should also ban assault weapons in the process.”
Former President Barak Obama also issued a public statement on the matter Tuesday ahead of the current president.
“A once-in-a-century pandemic cannot be the only thing that slows mass shootings in this country,” Obama said on Twitter. “It’s time for leaders everywhere to listen to the American people when they say enough is enough.”
Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “The Senate is going to debate and address the epidemic of gun violence in this country.”
Also in a brief statement Tuesday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris called the shooting “absolutely baffling” and “absolutely tragic.”
In Washington, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on gun violence. The House already passed legislation on expanding background checks March 11.
This is a developing story. Please stay with AJC.com for the latest updates. Information provided by The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
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