This past Monday, a new tragedy was added to Colorado’s — and the nation’s — long history of mass shootings.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, a 21-year-old man who was born in Syria but raised in Colorado, walked into a King Soopers store in the city of Boulder, and opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon, killing 10 people. According to eyewitnesses, Al-Issa was wearing full tactic gear and started his murder spree in the parking lot, where he shot an elderly man multiple times.
Before he surrendered to SWAT, Al-Issa removed all his gear. He walked out of the store almost naked, with blood visible on his right leg, where he had been shot.
The victims’ ages ranged from 20 to 65, and included the store’s manager and a police officer who responded to the scene.
Not much has been made public about the gunman, who, according to the arrest affidavit, did not answer questions but “asked to speak to his mother.”
The suspect’s older brother, Ali Aliwi Alissa, told The Daily Beast in an interview that his brother is “anti-social.” He said the shooting was “not at all a political statement” but mental illness.
As families and a perplexed city now mourn the lives lost, the gunman— who is now out of the hospital and ready to stand trial — faces 10 counts of murder and will appear in court for the first time tomorrow.
This shooting came less than a week after the shootings at three spas in Atlanta, Georgia. With the country slowly reopening, America’s decades-long pandemic of gun violence resurfaces and the fear of dying — at a school, workplace, spa, grocery store — once again permeates the air.
“We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We can close loopholes in our gun background check system,” tweet President Biden this past Tuesday. “This is not a partisan issue — it’s an American issue that will save lives. Congress needs to act.”
Congress has yet to deliver on a legislation.
Here are the names and ages of the victims:
Denny Stong, 20 years old
Neven Stanisic, 23 years old
Rikki Olds, 25 years old
Tralona Bartkowiak, 49 years old
Officer Eric Talley, 51 years old
Teri Leiker, 51 years old
Suzzanne Fountaine, 59 years old
Kevin Mahoney, 61 years old
Lynn Murray, 62 years old
Jody Waters, 65 years old
