BOULDER SHOOTING: SUSPECT CHARGED WITH 10 COUNTS OF MURDER, INVESTIGATORS HUNT FOR A MOTIVE

Wed 24 March 2021:

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa bought the weapon on March 16, just six days before the attack at a King Soopers store in Boulder, according to an arrest affidavit. It was not immediately known where the gun was purchased.

A police affidavit made public on Tuesday said that last week he bought a Ruger AR-556 semiautomatic pistol — essentially a shortened version of an AR-15 style rifle, which fires the same small-caliber, high-velocity ammunition, first developed for battlefield use. Statements from the police and the charging documents did not make fully clear what models of weapons he used in the attack, and whether the Ruger was one of them.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT – Police in Boulder, Colorado, reported an ‘active shooter’ at a King Soopers grocery store, and aerial footage broadcast live from the scene by local media showed one person being placed in an ambulance and a man in handcuffs https://t.co/9j5m64WvXz pic.twitter.com/wREnM43QsH

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 22, 2021

Alissa, who is from the Denver suburb of Arvada, was booked into the county jail Tuesday on murder charges after being treated at a hospital. He was due to make a first court appearance Thursday.

Investigators have not established a motive, but they believe Alissa was the only shooter, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.

Ten people were killed at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, about 25 miles (40 km) from Denver. Eric Talley, a 51-year-old police officer who was first to run to the aid of the victims, was among the dead. A 21-year-old male suspect later identified as Alissa was captured alive.

The affidavit said there were no signs Alissa had been under the influence of alcohol or no indication of impairment due to drug use. Alissa also told paramedics he was not using any medications, the affidavit added.

Alissa had gunshot wounds to his upper right thigh during the shooting, the affidavit said.

Thousands of Coloradans came to the grocery store in Boulder today to spend a moment, offer a prayer, or leave a flower or note. pic.twitter.com/RgKgaDgGYv

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) March 24, 2021

His criminal history record shows he had a charge for third degree assault in 2018, the affidavit added.

Alissa, a high school wrestler who has been described by his family as ‘mentally ill’, was born in Syria and moved to the US with his family when he was three.

According to a police report, obtained by the Daily Beast, in 2017, Alissa, then 17, ‘blacked out’ and violently assaulted a classmate who had called him a terrorist.

Alissa “got up in classroom, walked over to the victim & ‘cold cocked’ him in the head,” the affidavit read. Alissa complained that the student had made fun of him and called him “racial names” weeks earlier, according to the affidavit. He was sentenced to probation and community service.

The affidavit does not provide a motive for Alissa’s shooting. In addition, the affidavit indicates Alissa got the handgun from one of his brothers who lived with him, but there’s no explanation on how he acquired the assault rifle.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that he was known to the FBI because he was linked to another person who has been under investigation for something else. They didn’t give any more details.

His brother confirmed he was the shooter in an interview with The Daily Beast on Tuesday, saying he was ‘paranoid’ and ‘very antisocial’.

He insisted that the shooting was not politically-motivated and said:'[It was] not at all a political statement, it’s mental illness.

A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting said 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 said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The attack was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since a 2019 assault on a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 22 people in a rampage that police said targeted Mexicans.

In Washington, President Joe Biden called on Congress to tighten the nation’s gun laws.

“Ten lives have been lost, and more families have been shattered by gun violence in the state of Colorado,” Biden said at the White House.