Gunman Found Guilty of Killing 10 in Boulder Supermarket Mass Shooting

A man who opened fire in a Colorado supermarket, resulting in the deaths of ten individuals, has been convicted of multiple murders.

Ahmad Alissa informed psychologists that he had been hearing “killing voices” prior to the shooting at a King Soopers store parking lot in Boulder in March 2021.

The violent episode lasted just over a minute, and Alissa only surrendered after being shot in the leg by an officer.

The 25-year-old, diagnosed with schizophrenia, now faces a life sentence after a jury found him guilty following a two-week trial. The jury reached their verdict after approximately six hours of deliberation, which started on Friday afternoon.

Alissa was convicted on ten counts of first-degree murder. In addition, he was found guilty on multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons-related offenses.

He had previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Although his defense team did not dispute that he killed ten people during the incident, including a police officer, they argued that he was unable to discern right from wrong at the time of the shooting.

Officer Eric Talley, 51, was the first law enforcement officer to respond to the scene and was killed in the attack. Talley was a father of seven and had served on the Boulder police force for eleven years, according to NBC.

The other victims included 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.

Prosecutors maintained that Alissa was sane, noting that he did not fire indiscriminately. They pointed out that he deliberately pursued individuals who were fleeing and attempting to hide.

Notably, he passed by a 91-year-old man who remained unaware of the shooting as he continued shopping.

Alissa came to the store armed with armor-piercing ammunition and illegal magazines capable of holding 30 rounds, indicating a calculated effort to maximize the lethality of his attack.

He purchased the weapon used in the shooting just six days prior, according to an arrest affidavit.

Throughout the trial, several family members of Alissa, who immigrated to the United States from Syria, testified that he had become increasingly withdrawn and less communicative in the years leading up to the shooting.

His family noted that he exhibited signs of paranoia and reported hearing voices, with his condition worsening after contracting Covid-19 in late 2020. Following the shooting, Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and experts indicated that the symptoms described by his family were consistent with the onset of this mental illness.

State forensic psychologists who evaluated Alissa concluded that he was sane at the time of the shootings. Despite his plea, the defense did not present any expert testimony to support the claim of insanity.

Following the shooting, Alissa repeatedly told psychologists about hearing voices, including “killing voices,” right before the incident, but he struggled to provide clear details about these voices during multiple hours of interviews.

While he claimed to hear voices, state psychologists asserted that Alissa did not experience delusions. They stated that his expressed fear of being arrested or killed by police indicated an awareness of his wrongdoing.

One witness testified that she heard Alissa exclaim “this is fun” at least three times while he moved through the store firing his semi-automatic pistol, which looked similar to an AR-15 rifle.

“Today, justice is served,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis in a statement following the verdict. “Though I know this guilty verdict won’t heal the pain so many of us feel, or bring back those who were killed, I hope that it can provide some peace.”