Shooting in Boulder, Colorado: Vigils are held for victims as the shooter is expected in court on Thursday

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“It’s sad but happy that we were able to honor her life,” Crystal Hootman told CNN. “I was talking with another resident and we both shop at the grocery store. I hope that out of sadness Boulder becomes an even better place to live, ”she said.

Talley’s body was transported to a funeral home in nearby Aurora, escorted by a motorcade of police vehicles and first responders.

At the King Soopers store, where the shooting took place, visitors left flowers and paid tribute to the ten who died. Church chaplains were on hand to help those in need, as was Cubby, an emotional support golden retriever.

“They take charge of people’s feelings,” said Bonnie Fear, Lutheran Church Services K-9 Crisis Response Coordinator Bonnie Fear, CNN affiliate, KUSA. “We bring the dogs in and bring comfort and smiles and we just open up the emotions to people so they can start the healing process.”
The policeman killed in the Boulder supermarket shooting was the father of 7 children.

Monday’s attack began with a gunman shooting a man in the parking lot before entering the grocery store and opening fire. Employees and customers attempted to flee as the gunman walked the aisles of stores, witnesses said and an arrest affidavit said.

The terrifying hour employees and shoppers went into hiding when a gunman embarked on a shootout at a Colorado grocery store

The victims were: Talley, 51; store manager Rikki Olds, 25; 20-year-old store employee Denny Stong; store employee Teri Leiker, 51; Neven Stanisic, 23; 49-year-old Tralona Bartkowiak; Suzanne Fountain, 59 years old; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.

Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver said on Wednesday he spoke with President Joe Biden, who expressed his condolences and sympathy.

“Of course the conversation turned to what we can do to make sure that never happens in another community in our country, and so we explored that a bit,” the mayor told Pamela Brown. from CNN. “The President said he regretted that when the first federal ban on assault weapons was passed in 1994, it took ten years for it to be passed.

“He further regretted that the sunset had taken place and the ban had expired. And then we discussed steps that could be taken at the federal level to ensure that things like this don’t happen. just not to other communities. “

The shooter’s first court appearance

As the community mourned those lost, the alleged shooter is due to hear the charges in a hearing on Thursday.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, has been arrested on 10 counts of first degree murder and one of attempted murder, according to a Boulder County arrest warrant. He is scheduled to appear in court for the first time Thursday morning, according to a statement from the Boulder County prosecutor.
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It is not known if Alissa will be present as a court document indicated that he had the right to waive his appearance in person. He will be informed of the charges he faces, his rights and the next court date in his case, the statement said.

“It is expected that this appearance will be the first court appearance in what will likely be a lengthy court process,” the statement said. The hearing will be accessible to the public online.

Investigators are working to piece together a possible motive for the shooting, which has left questions about its location, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Alissa lives about 30 minutes from the store and there are other grocery stores closer to her residence.

It is suspected the attack was planned given his recent purchase of a pistol believed to have been used in the shooting and investigators are also looking at possible mental health issues, the official told CNN.

The FBI is examining Alissa’s online activity and conducting interviews with friends and relatives, a law enforcement official told CNN, adding that Alissa had not previously been the subject of no FBI investigation and it appears that nothing in the federal system would have prevented him from buying a firearm.

Law enforcement vehicles escort the body of slain Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley to a funeral home on March 24, 2021.

We remember two store employees

Meanwhile, Bianca Porter, a friend of Denny Stong, 20, the youngest victim of Monday’s shooting, said she was not surprised to hear reports that Stong was trying to protect others during shooting.
“I had no doubt that he had lost his life trying to save other people, which is what he was,” she told CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday night.

She shared her favorite memory of Stong, a close friend of four she texted just an hour before the attack.

A young grocery store manager killed in the Boulder massacre `` lived her life on her own terms. '' The victims of the mass shootings, including a heroic officer, remember

“Last year on my birthday he was one of the only people who gave me a birthday present, which made me feel very special,” Porter told Burnett. “He was really in aviation and everything, so he brought his RC [radio controlled] plane and he was controlling it over the pond and just doing some really cool stuff with it. We were all laughing and having a good time. “

Porter said Stong was dedicated to his supermarket job and dreamed of becoming a pilot.

“He was really passionate. Denny had a work ethic like no one else I’ve ever met,” Porter said. “It’s not the most interesting job, but he couldn’t wait to do it, I never heard him once complain about having to get to work late or something. He really did. what he could and had no complaints about. “

The uncle of store manager Rikki Olds, 25, the victim of Monday’s shooting, spoke of his personality at a press conference on Wednesday.

King Soopers barista hid coworker behind trash cans to keep her safe during filming

“Rikki was kind of the light of our family,” said Robert Olds. “When Rikki got home, we never knew what color her hair was, we never knew what new tattoos she might have.

“But it was Rikki and Rikki were living on Rikki’s terms – not anyone else’s.”

Olds also said that “she had dreams, she had ambitions” and praised her as “a strong and independent young woman”. She had planned to be a nurse, he said, but her attention turned to becoming a store manager at King Soopers.

Olds said the outpouring of support was “overwhelming,” adding that “it just shows how many lives have been touched by Rikki,” he said.

“She was a snort when she laughed out loud and I will really miss her,” he said. “I will really miss that personality.”

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Evan Perez, Konstantin Toropin, Jennifer Feldman, Amanda Jackson, Keith Allen and Amir Vera contributed to this report.

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