Suspect Charged with Ten Counts of Murder in Boulder Shooting

The city of Boulder was struck by tragedy yesterday when a lone gunman began firing inside a King Soopers. One police officer and nine civilians were killed in the shooting, ages 20 to 65.

The police officer who responded to 911 calls was Eric Talley, 51, with Boulder Police Department, a husband, brother, and father to seven children. The authorities identified the nine, additional victims as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.

The suspect was a 21-year-old man from a Denver suburb who used an assault rifle that he had purchased one week prior to the attack. This is the second mass shooting to shake the country this week after the harrowing attacks in Atlanta Georgia.

The suspect was taken to jail on Tuesday after being treated for gunshot wounds, and have since been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Both court records and social media accounts reveal that he was born in Syria in 1999. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, said that the suspect had lived most of his life in the U.S.

Colorado has a bleak and long history of mass shootings, from the 1999 Columbine shooters to the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting to the 2019 Littleton charter school shootings. Colorado comes in 20th of the country’s most heavily armed states, with 12 guns for every 1,000 residents, according to a 2015 report.

President Biden was briefed on the shootings, said White House Press Secretary on Twitter. Governor Jared Polis said on Twitter that he was following the events as they unfolded.

“My prayers are with our fellow Coloradans in this time of sadness and grief as we learn more about the extent of the tragedy,” Governor Polis said, adding that he was making every public safety resource available to assist the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department.

Mayor of Boulder, Sam Weaver, made a statement on Twitter: “Words can do no justice to the tragedy that has unfolded this afternoon. Our community will soon grieve our losses, and begin our healing.”