Shooting in Boulder Colorado: 10 dead in mass grocery store shooting – and another community’s peace broken

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A suspect is in custody, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said, but authorities have not shared any information about the type of weapon being used or a possible motive.

“We will be working around the clock to get this done,” she said, adding that such a complex investigation will take at least five days.

Herold said the murdered officer, 51-year-old Eric Talley, was one of the first officers to respond to the scene. Talley had joined the Boulder Police Department in 2010, she said.

Officials did not disclose the identities of the other victims and said they should first notify family members.

As the police investigate the chain of events, witnesses shared their experiences of the terror and panic in the store.

Steven McHugh said his son-in-law and two granddaughters were there when a gunman attacked.

Witnesses describe chaos when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado grocery store
His son-in-law, Paul, was third in line for a Covid-19 vaccine, and his 7th and 8th grade granddaughters were on the phone with their grandmother. On the other end of the phone, their grandmother heard at least eight shots.
The woman at the front of the row was shot, McHugh told CNN’s Don Lemon. Paul grabbed the girls and rushed them upstairs to take cover in a coat rack above the pharmacy, he said. The girls said they were scared because the coats weren’t long enough to hide their feet.

“The intensity, the horror will last the rest of their lives,” he said.

Ryan Borowski told CNN he was shopping in the store when he heard the first shots, and everyone was running on the third. He said he couldn’t believe it happened in his town.

“Boulder feels like a bubble, and the bubble burst,” said Borowski. “This feels like the safest place in America, and I almost got killed for getting a soda and a bag of chips.”

He added, “It no longer feels like there is safe anywhere.”

Police respond at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, where a gunman opened fire on Monday.

What the authorities say has happened

Boulder Police tweeted about 2:49 PM (4:49 PM ET) that there was an “active shooter with the King Soopers on Table Mesa. AVOID THE AREA”.

In the scanner traffic, agents announced by radio that they were in a firefight. They continued to report being fired upon multiple rounds until at least 3:21 PM local time.

Talley was one of the first officers to report to the chaotic scene outside King Soopers, officials said.

“He was in all probability one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was far too short,” said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.

Ambulances and multiple law enforcement agencies arrived at the store, which is part of a large shopping center with a two-story strip mall next door.

“He’s armed with a rifle, our agents fired back and fired back – we don’t know where he is in the store,” an officer said according to a transcript of the audio.

10 people killed after gunman opened fire in Boulder, Colorado supermarket

A senior law enforcement source told CNN that the weapon used in the shooting was an AR-15 style rifle.

CNN-affiliated KMGH’s helicopter recorded police leading several people away from the store.

At one point, the police were also seen moving on the roof. The reason for the roof moves was unclear, but a witness speaking to CNN-affiliated KCNC said his relatives in the store had been evacuated through the roof.

“They hid, ran upstairs, and spent the past hour in a wardrobe,” the man said. “Half a dozen officers came in through the roof and picked them up, then told them, ‘Keep still.’ ‘

As events unfolded, KMGH’s helicopter registered a shirtless man being taken from the supermarket. The man had what looked like blood on his arm and right leg, and his hands seemed shackled behind him as two officers led him away. The man was taken away by ambulance.

It was unclear whether the man was involved in the reported active in-store shooting.

At one point, police officials tweeted that they wanted people to take shelter in another location about three miles away because of a “ report from an armed, dangerous individual. ” But it turned out that the second site was not connected to the grocery store shooting, officials said.

Calls for action against gun violence

After the three Atlanta spa shootings, the latest attack sparked calls to action and expressions of fear.

“Last weekend it was a house party in Philadelphia. And last week it was an armed attack on Asian-American women in the Atlanta area,” Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congressman, a shooting survivor, said in a statement. “This is not normal, and it doesn’t have to be. It is too late for our leaders to take action.”
A trip to the spa that ended in death. These are some of the victims of the Atlanta area shootings

The Colorado tragedy feels particularly personal, Giffords said, given how the shooting she survived at a supermarket in Tucson devastated her community.

So far this year there have been at least six mass shootings with four or more deaths in the US.

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet also called for a national discussion on gun violence and for impartial action.

“It has been a long time since Congress has taken meaningful action to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands,” he said.

The The National Rifle Association tweeted Monday citing the Constitution’s Second Amendment: “A well-regulated militia, which is necessary for the security of a free state, should not violate the people’s right to keep and bear arms.”

King Sooper is owned by the Kroger company, which said the store will remain closed during the police investigation.

“The entire Kroger family offers our thoughts, prayers and support to our employees, customers and the emergency responders who responded so bravely to this tragic situation,” the company said via its verified Twitter account.

CNN’s Steve Almasy, Paul P. Murphy, Melissa Gray, Keith Allen, Kelsie Smith, Deanna Hackney, Dianne Gallagher and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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