CO - Mass shooting at King Soopers, 10 fatalities including 1 LEO, Boulder, 22 Mar 2021 *arrest*

[GatorFL]

Are you sure the .223 round is not "much the same" as a .22 long rifle bullet?

I could not help but noticing that .223 bullets are significantly larger than my .22 long rifle bullets. This increase in size is also marched by a larger case in the .223 with far more grains of powder. This allows for .223 rounds to keep a high velocity, despite their increased size.

I dont really care if a gun looks scary or not. What I do care about is size of the bullet and the velocity of the bullet. The increased size of the bullet coupled with the retention of high velocity makes .223 rounds very lethal.

100% agree. A .223 and a .22LR have a similar circumference of the projectile but that is where the similarities end.

 

[Seattle1]

Boulder Shooting: Police Identify Suspected Gunman, Say He's Facing 10 Murder Charges

3/23/2021

Police in Boulder, Colo., have identified the suspect in Monday's shooting rampage at a grocery store as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21. Ten people died in the shooting, including a Boulder police officer who had arrived to help those inside the store. The victims range in age from 20 to 65.

Alissa has been charged with 10 counts of murder in the first degree, Boulder police said.

[..]

The weapon used in the shooting is legally classified as a "pistol" in the U.S., but many people would likely consider it to be a rifle — and the affidavit repeatedly refers to it as one. The gun has the same lower receiver, the shell-like piece that houses the trigger, as AR-15 rifles that have been used in many other mass shootings in the United States.

[..]

Herold said the suspect's injury was a "through-and-through" wound to his leg.

Ben Markus of Colorado Public Radio reported that Alissa has a police record, having been arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge in 2018. He pleaded guilty and paid a fine to resolve that case, according to court records.

An "extensive investigation" is now under way into Alissa's life, Dougherty said. He added that the suspect has "lived most of his life in the United States," but he did not elaborate on the suspect's history.

[..]

As a teenager in Arvada, Alissa was on his high school's wrestling team. Tyson Crosby, the father of a boy who competed against Alissa, remembered him as being nice but also "a little frustrated with life."

Despite Alissa having some "anger management issues," Crosby told Colorado Public Radio, "I would have never expected to hear what I heard [about the shooting], that came as a complete shock."

The first reports of shots fired at the King Soopers grocery store reached the Boulder Police Department around 2:30 p.m. local time Monday, Herold said that evening. She provided more details on Tuesday, saying that with a "barrage" of calls coming in, officers were dispatched around 2:40 p.m. and arrived within minutes.

The officers "immediately entered the store and engaged the suspect," the police department said in a news release. "There was an exchange of gunfire during which the suspect was shot. No other officers were injured. The suspect was then taken into custody at 3:28 p.m." and taken to a hospital, the agency said.

In the wake of the shooting, other state and local agencies offered to handle service calls for the Boulder police, Herold said. But she added that while her department appreciated the gesture, it declined the offers.

"None of my officers wanted to do that," Herold said. "So we partnered them up and they want to be out with the community."

 

[Inthedetails]

I will add to that. He had the forethought to undress himself before he turned himself in. He didn’t want to be killed. There was some thought and planning that went into this.

Can you share what you're thinking? To me, undressing seems like a sign of mental illness. It's odd to undress, imo. What foresight do you think it indicates? (Serious question, not snark.)

jmo

 

[CocoChanel]

Boulder Shooting: Police Identify Suspected Gunman, Say He's Facing 10 Murder Charges

<snipped for brevity>

In the wake of the shooting, other state and local agencies offered to handle service calls for the Boulder police, Herold said. But she added that while her department appreciated the gesture, it declined the offers.

"None of my officers wanted to do that," Herold said. "So we partnered them up and they want to be out with the community."

THANK YOU for posting this. I heard a bit of this during the presser, but not the whole comment. It is noble of both the BPD and their neighboring counterparts to be working side by side during the stressful aftermath of this tragedy. Good for them. I hope it brings them all some comfort.

 

[GatorFL]

Can you share what you're thinking? To me, undressing seems like a sign of mental illness. It's odd to undress, imo. What foresight do you think it indicates? (Serious question, not snark.)

jmo

Just speculation, the police who apprehended him could have stripped him looking for weapons and such. Or first responders stripped him to deal with his injury.

 

[Dre]

Interesting that he took his clothes off himself.. I had assumed police/first responders did that immediately to see where he was bleeding from.
Wasn’t the point of wearing the vest not to get shot? So why take it off yourself? Weird.

eta: I do think it’s most likely he took his clothes off himself, after being ordered to by the swat team. Moo

 

[Seattle1]

Can you share what you're thinking? To me, undressing seems like a sign of mental illness. It's odd to undress, imo. What foresight do you think it indicates? (Serious question, not snark.)

jmo

It's not clear if this was voluntary. Perhaps he was ordered to remove his clothing when surrendering.

Alissa surrendered to police after he was shot in the leg.
An officer said the suspect took off most of his clothes and walked backward toward a SWAT team at the store.

"The suspect did not answer questions, though he asked to speak to his mother," the affidavit said.

Boulder Shooting: Police Identify Suspected Gunman, Say He's Facing 10 Murder Charges

 

[CocoChanel]

Some info about several of the innocent victims of yesterday’s tragic shooting in Boulder...
Gunman, 21, is charged with murder for shooting and killing 10 people — Daily Mail

COLORADO SHOOTING VICTIMS

Officer Eric Talley, 51

Boulder cop and father-of-seven. One of the first on the scene.

He had recently changed jobs because he wanted to work away from the front line.

He was given a hero's procession from the grocery store to the funeral home on Monday night.

Rikki Olds, 25

Olds was identified by her aunt on Facebook.

She was an employee at the grocery store.

Her aunt on Facebook both paid tribute to her and called for the shooter to 'burn in hell'.

Teri Leiker, 51

Leiker had worked at the store for 30 years and was dating a colleague, Clint.

Clint survived the shooting.

Her friends paid tribute to her on Tuesday.

'She loved going to work and enjoyed everything about being there.

'Her boyfriend and her had been good friends and began dating in the fall of 2019.

'He was working yesterday too. He is alive,' her friend said on Facebook.

She said Teri signed off all her calls with 'your buddy Teri' and that working in the store was her 'favorite thing to do'. She was an enthusiastic Colorado Buffaloes fan.

Kevin Mahoney, 61

Kevin's daughter Erika Mahoney revealed that her he was also among the victims.

She tweeted a touching photo of Mahoney walking her down the aisle for her wedding last year, alongside the caption: 'I am heartbroken to announce that my Dad, my hero, Kevin Mahoney, was killed in the King Soopers shooting in my hometown of Boulder, CO.

'My dad represents all things Love.

'I'm so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer.

'Thank you to the Boulder PD for being so kind through this painful tragedy.'

Denny Stong, 20

Friends said Stong was training to be a pilot.

 

[Dawookie]

I agree and above all, make sure they don't have access to weapons!

As we saw with the Aurora shooting, the reporting laws are a tough area. Multiple professionals believed he was dangerous but none reported him. One even told campus police of his homicidal thoughts but nothing was done.

As it relates to this case, even if he hadn't seen a mental health professional, his family could have used the red flag laws that are there to take guns away from people who absolutely should not have them. It's obvious now that he had some issues that should have been reported

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Just speculation, the police who apprehended him could have stripped him looking for weapons and such. Or first responders stripped him to deal with his injury.

Not speculation, from the Affidavit -
Officer Frederking saw the male, who later identified himself as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa (hereinafter "Alissa"), walking backward to the SWAT Team to be taken into custody. Alissa had removed all of his clothing and was dressed only in shorts.

Can you share what you're thinking? To me, undressing seems like a sign of mental illness. It's odd to undress, imo. What foresight do you think it indicates? (Serious question, not snark.)

jmo

I think he undressed himself to show he wasn’t armed. He didn’t want to be killed. This doesn’t show a mentally ill person IMO. He’s someone thinking ahead.

 

[Poo Bear]

Gunman, 21, is charged with murder for shooting and killing 10 people | Daily Mail Online

Ahmad Alissa, the 21-year-old gunman responsible for a mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store on Monday, was known to the FBI and had ranted online about 'racist islamophobes' hacking his phone.

 

[Colorado303]

Arrest Affidavit:
https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com...idavit-for-arrest-warrant-alissa-redacted.pdf

A photograph of the items that the male removed on scene included a green tactical vest, a rifle (possible AR-15), a semiautomatic handgun, a pair of jeans and a dark colored long-sleeved shirt. There was much blood around the items.

Using law enforcement databases, investigators determined that Alissa had purchased a Ruger AR- 556 pistol on March 16, 2021.

Odd the clothing they found discarded in the store doesn’t include a plaid shirt, which per the affidavit an officer in the store described as being worn by the man shooting. He also said he believed the shooter was blond, though he “wasn’t sure”. It must be hard to remember details when under fire, but seems like a trained LE officer (presumably SWAT) would be better at it than most.

As I understand it, the sole purpose of an arrest affidavit is to show cause for arrest. It’s not a summary of all evidence to date.

This is an affidavit supporting the arrest of AA and only AA. I’m puzzled why the plaid shirt/blond hair description was included at all. To our knowledge it doesn’t describe AA and surely there are all sorts of inaccurate witness descriptions that don’t make it into an affidavit. So why include this one?

I have no doubt that AA was responsible for the shootings. Was the officer mistaken about who was shooting or did he remember their appearance incorrectly? Was an armed civilian not associated with AA scared, confused and shooting thinking they were protecting themselves? Or is it possible that AA had an accomplice after all?

ETA link to affidavit:
https://lede-admin.coloradosun.com/...avit-for-Arrest-Warrant-Alissa_Redacted-1.pdf

 

[Dre]

Gunman, 21, is charged with murder for shooting and killing 10 people | Daily Mail Online

Ahmad Alissa, the 21-year-old gunman responsible for a mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store on Monday, was known to the FBI and had ranted online about 'racist islamophobes' hacking his phone.

He was known to the FBI?!?!?
And wow that’s so delusional...

Ugh my heart is hurting for all of those families.

 

[CocoChanel]

Last night’s motorcade of emergency vehicles transporting fallen hero Officer Eric Talley’s body. Absolutely heart-wrenching.

Police line streets for slain Boulder officer Eric Talley

 

[Cryptic]

Can you share what you're thinking? To me, undressing seems like a sign of mental illness. It's odd to undress, imo. What foresight do you think it indicates?

Foresight to make it clear to police that he was not carrying additional weapons? This reduced the possibility of him being shot while surrendering.

 

[Dawookie]

He was known to the FBI?!?!?
And wow that’s so delusional...

Ugh my heart is hurting for all of those families.

Reading up on it, it seems he was acquainted with someone they were investigating. Doesn't sound like he was a target of the investigation and may not have raised any red flags with them

 

[Colorado303]

He was known to the FBI?!?!?
And wow that’s so delusional...

Ugh my heart is hurting for all of those families.

Way, way to often recently, mass shooters and bombers “are known to” LE, often because someone had reported them as potentially dangerous to local LE or the FBI.

I wish LE would announce more frequently when they successfully stop an upcoming attack based on civilian tips. If someone doesn’t think it will make a difference anyway, it’s easy to imagine they might consciously decide not to call in tips re someone they care about. Or if they are afraid the person might find out and retaliate.

 

[Poo Bear]

Boulder shooting suspect: Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder

The 21-year-old Arvada man arrested in Monday’s mass shooting at a Boulder King Sooper’s was violent, short-tempered and paranoid during high school, his former classmates said Tuesday.

“He was kind of scary to be around,” said Dayton Marvel, a teammate on the wrestling team. Alissa once had an outburst and threatened to kill people during an intra-team match, Marvel said.

He said he did not like spending time with Alissa, and Alissa was not close with anyone on the wrestling team. Another teammate, Angel Hernandez, said Alissa got into a fight in the parking lot after the match. “(The other wrestler) was just teasing him and goes, ‘Maybe if you were a better wrestler, you would have won.’ (Alissa) just lost it. He started punching him,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said Alissa frequently appeared to be paranoid about perceived slights against him, and Marvel said Alissa was often concerned about being targeted because of his Muslim faith.

“He would talk about him being Muslim and how if anybody tried anything, he would file a hate crime and say they were making it up,” Marvel said. “It was a crazy deal. I just know he was a pretty cool kid until something made him mad, and then whatever made him mad, he went over the edge — way too far.”

“He was always talking about (how) people were looking at him and there was no one ever where he was pointing people out,” Hernandez said. “We always thought he was messing around with us or something.”

 

[ReadySet]

Mental illness does not necessarily preclude planning.

I'm not so sure this is about mental illness.Buying the gun 6 days ago makes this sound more planned out.Plus why buy the vest?

 

[Seattle1]

Boulder shooting suspect: Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder

3/23/21

He attended Arvada West High School from 2015 until he graduated in 2018, Jeffco Public Schools spokeswoman Cameron Bell confirmed Tuesday. He was on the wrestling team his junior and senior years.
[..]

“He would talk about him being Muslim and how if anybody tried anything, he would file a hate crime and say they were making it up,” Marvel said. “It was a crazy deal. I just know he was a pretty cool kid until something made him mad, and then whatever made him mad, he went over the edge — way too far.”

“He was always talking about (how) people were looking at him and there was no one ever where he was pointing people out,” Hernandez said. “We always thought he was messing around with us or something.”

In 2017, Alissa, then 18, attacked a classmate at Arvada West High School, according to an affidavit filed in the case. He punched the classmate in the head without warning, and when the boy fell to the ground, Alissa continued to punch him. The classmate suffered bruises and cuts to his head, according to the affidavit.

Witnesses told police they didn’t see or hear any reason for Alissa to attack the classmate. Alissa told officers that the classmate “had made fun of him and called him racial names weeks earlier,” according to the affidavit.

He was convicted of misdemeanor assault in 2018 and was sentenced to probation and 48 hours of community service, according to court records.

Despite his short temper, Hernandez said Alissa could also be friendly and “joyful.”

“The sad thing about it is that if you really were to get to know him, he was a good guy,” Hernandez said. “Whenever you went up to him, he was always so joyful and so nice. But you could tell there was a dark side in him. If he did get ticked off about something, within a split second, it was like if something takes over, like a demon. He’d just unleash all his anger.”

Another former classmate, Keaton Hyatt, said he took a weightlifting class with Alissa and never knew him to be violent. Hyatt liked Alissa’s quick wit and sharp comebacks during locker room banter.

“He was super cool and super funny,” Hyatt said. “… It was never violent jokes about people or America or anything.”

Arvada Police Detective Dave Snelling confirmed Tuesday the local department had at least two interactions with Alissa over the past several years, including a case of criminal mischief. The details of that case were not immediately available.

Snelling would not say whether local police had received any warnings or complaints about Alissa recently, however, and instead deferred the question to the FBI