The man who shot and killed 10 people in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store in 2021 has been given 10 life sentences plus another 1,334 years in state prison on top of that. The sentencing by a Colorado judge came a few hours after a jury convicted Ahmad Alissa on all 55 charges he faced.
The trial for the gunman, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, included 10 days of testimony. The prosecution didn’t dispute that the defendant suffers from schizophrenia, but they argued that it didn’t stop him from knowing right from wrong and planning the attack. The jury deliberated for approximately 6 hours over two days before coming to their verdict.
“As this chapter closes, it doesn’t bring back any of our loved ones, but with this verdict it ensures that this murderer will pay for his crimes and his heinous, brutal murders for the rest of his life,” said Bob Olds, whose daughter Rikki was among those who were killed.
The mass shooting took place at the King Soopers on South Table Mesa on March 22, 2021. The victims included shoppers and workers, along with Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, who was killed when he responded to the scene. Other officers managed to detain the shooter despite taking rifle fire, and he was arrested at the scene.
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Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty said after the sentencing that Monday “marks the end of an incredibly long and painful journey for the victims.”
“Today we bring what has been a really painful chapter in the criminal court to its rightful end,” Dougherty said.
“Today marks justice in the criminal case, but I also recognize, as you do, that nothing will repair the harm, the damage and the trauma that the defendant inflicted upon (the victims’ families).”
A plan for a mass shooting
During the trial, the prosecution argued that while the defendant was mentally ill, that alone by law doesn’t mean he was insane.
Dougherty said the gunman planned the attack for several months beforehand. That included researching other mass shootings including the 2019 massacre at an Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and the Christ Church shootings in New Zealand.
“Make no mistake about it, folks. He was planning it since the very beginning of January 2021,” he said.
The shooter lived in Arvada but for an unknown reason began planning to carry out his crime in a populated area in the nearby city of Boulder in the days leading up to the shooting.
After arriving at the grocery store — likely “the first large public shopping center” he passed, according to the district attorney — he picked his targets randomly in what Dougherty called “the ultimate act of cowardice.”
The gunman’s defense team had argued during his trial that what happened in March 2021 was not a choice, but the result of the defendant’s mental illness. They stated that the mental illness became so severe that the voices in the man’s head randomly led him to the Boulder shopping center.
Officer did “as they are trained to do”
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn spoke after the sentencing and praised the officers who were first to respond to the scene.
“As you’ve heard throughout this trial, our officers did exactly as they are trained to do. They drove as fast as they could to get there, and then when they got there they ran into that store towards gunfire while everyone else was running out,” he said.
Redfearn said the training the officers had helped to end a shooting that could have resulted in even more deaths.
“It is a miracle that we did not lose more officers that day,” he said.
He also thanked the members of Talley’s family and circle of friends who came to the courthouse for much of the trial.
“To all of you, I want to thank you for your perseverence, strength and resilience as it is an inspiration to all of us,” he said.
“Eric’s life and sacrifice will live on forever.”
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Redfearn also paid his respects to the families of the nine innocent victims who were killed.
Making sure the focus stays on the victims
Several family members of the victims spoke after the sentencing, including Bob Olds. Olds wants to make sure the focus stays on the victims.
“In these last three-and-a-half years I want to thank (the media) for sharing Rikki Olds life with everyone and making the victims of this brutal … mass shooting, bring them and keeping them in the forefront instead of the murderer,” he said.
He also thanked the prosecution team and Boulder County’s victim advocates.
“They truly were the ones who were there for us from day one, through this entire three years, six months and one day,” he said.
Talley’s sister Kirstin Brooks said she is relieved that the “monster is going to be put away.” She said her brother responded to the scene with two intentions: “to protect people, and he went in there to fire a bullet into that killer’s head.”
“The trajectory of that bullet is finished today in the justice of what these people have done,” she said.
Denise Danel, close relative of victim Jody Waters, said “this shouldn’t have happened.” She questioned why more wasn’t done by the gunman’s family to try to stop him from committing mass murder.
“Why did they not get him help?” she said.
Olivia Mackenzie, daughter of victim Lynn Murray, said going to the grocery store isn’t the same for her since the shooting.
“I just hope that other potential mass shooters that have the desire to do this understand there’s a consequence. And I don’t feel insanity as a cop-out should be an option,” she said.
Erica Mahoney spoke about the death of her father Kevin.
“I never expected that my dad would have to run for his life in the parking lot of a grocery store,” she said.
Governor says “justice is served”
Gov. Jared Polis released a statement after the verdict saying in part “Today, justice is served.”
“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,” he wrote. “My thoughts are with the family members and friends of Eric Talley, Rikki Olds, Teri Leiker, Denny Stong, Suzanne Fountain, Tralona Bartkowiak, Neven Stanisic, Lynn Murray, Jody Waters, and Kevin Mahoney, as well as the entire Boulder community.”
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