Ten people, including a police officer, were shot and killed at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket on Monday, the second mass shooting in the U.S. in a week.
At a news conference late Monday, authorities said the assailant was wounded and in custody, receiving hospital treatment. Citing the ongoing investigation, authorities didn’t reveal his name or any details about the shooting.
“This is a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County,” Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “These were people going about their day, doing their shopping. I promise the victims and the people of the state of Colorado that we will secure justice.”
The carnage occurred around 2:30 p.m. at King Soopers in Boulder, which is about 25 miles northwest of Denver and home to the University of Colorado.
The shooting comes days after eight people — six of them women of Asian descent — were killed by a gunman at three spas in Atlanta and a nearby county. The attack was the seventh mass killing this year in the U.S., according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
Wounded suspect in custody
The suspect’s identity was not immediately divulged, but officials said he was the only person to receive non-fatal injuries in the saga. Online video showed a man in handcuffs being led away from the store with a bloody leg. The man, wearing shorts but no shirt or shoes, was taken away by ambulance.
Police would not definitively state whether there was only one shooter, but shelter-in-place directives were lifted and Boulder Police Commander Kerry Yamaguchi said there was “no ongoing public threat” after the arrest.
It remains unclear how the assailant was captured. Police did not disclose the type of weapon or weapons that were used, though Boulder Police Chief Maris Harold said they did get a call to the station “about a possible person with a patrol rifle.”
Lull in mass killings during pandemic may be over
The attack was the seventh mass killing this year in the U.S., according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. The rampage came less than a week after the March 16 shooting that left eight people dead at three Atlanta-area massage businesses. It follows a lull in mass killings during the pandemic in 2020, which had the smallest number of such attacks in more than a decade, according to the database, which tracks mass killings defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter.
Tragedy ‘puts basketball in its proper place’
Boulder is home to the University of Colorado, and the school’s head men’s basketball coach said that the tragedy had weighed on his mind throughout his team’s second-round NCAA men’s basketball tournament game against Florida State on Monday.“It puts basketball in its proper place,” Tad Boyle said.
“Win or lose tonight, I just felt an emptiness in my stomach. Another senseless act of violence that we’ve experienced as a country many, many times.”
Police Officer Eric Talley among victims
The slain officer was identified as Eric Talley, 51, who had been with Boulder police since 2010, Boulder police Chief Maris Herold said. He went to the store after a call about shots fired and someone carrying a rifle, she said.
“He was by all accounts one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut too short,” Dougherty said of Talley.
Dozens of police and emergency vehicles, their lights flashing, escorted an ambulance carrying the officer from the shooting scene after nightfall. Some residents stood along the route, their arms raised in salute.
As of late Monday, the identities of the other nine victims were not disclosed as police were still notifying their family members.
Kroger ‘horrified and deeply saddened’
King Soopers, a Denver-based subsidiary of supermarket giant Kroger, operates more than 150 stores in Colorado and Wyoming. In a statement, Cincinnati-based Kroger said it is “horrified and deeply saddened by the senseless violence that occurred at our King Soopers store.” The company offered prayers and support for all affected.
In the wake of mass shootings elsewhere, Kroger asked shoppers in 2019 to leave firearms at home. The change in policy came a day after grocery rival Walmart made a similar shift.
Motive remains a mystery
Police provided no immediate information on a possible motive for the rampage and were unable to say whether the shooter knew any of his victims or had ties to the store.
It also remains unclear whether the attack started inside the store or in the parking lot where witnesses said they saw victims down.
James Bentz, who was shopping at the market, told the Denver Post that he and others ran for the door when gunshots sounded. “I was there at the front of a stampede,” he said.
Video footage showed some windows of the market blown out. KMGH television news in Colorado reported that as police arrived at the store they, too, came under fire.
SWAT teams and armored police vehicles arrived. A bystander live-streamed video showing police outside the market on a megaphone urging the shooter to give up: “The entire building is surrounded,” announced an officer. “You need to surrender. Come out with your hands up, unarmed.”
Colorado’s history of firearm rampages
Colorado has a grim, recent history of shooting sprees, all within 70 miles of Boulder. The first was a 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Thirteen people were killed and 21 wounded by gunfire before the perpetrators — a pair of students — took their own lives.
In 2012, a lone gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The assailant, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, used tear gas and multiple guns as he sealed off doors and terrorized 400 people. Twelve died and 58 others suffered gunshot wounds.
And in May 2019, one student was killed and eight others injured in an ambush attack at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a charter school located in Douglas County. As in Columbine, the assailants were students. One pleaded guilty and the other is awaiting trial in May 2021.
Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, Mike James, Dan Wolken and Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY; Sady Swanson; The Coloradoan; Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer; The Associated Press
