The Colorado gunman who killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket in 2021 was found guilty of murder on Monday and now faces life in prison.
Ahmad Alissa, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was convicted on multiple charges on Monday, including 10 counts of first-degree murder, 38 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault, and six counts of possessing illegal, large-capacity magazines.
Alissa, now 24, opened fire at a King Soopers grocery store in March 2021, killing nine customers and police officer Eric Talley, who responded to the scene.
Alissa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and while defense attorneys did not dispute that Alissa fatally shot 10 people, they argued he couldn’t tell right from wrong at the time of the attack.
However, prosecutors painted a different picture as they had to prove Alissa was sane at the time of the shooting. They argued Alissa didn’t fire randomly, pointing out that he started shooting immediately after getting out of his car in the store’s parking lot. He killed most of the victims in just over a minute and surrendered after an officer shot him in the leg.
Prosecutors added that Alissa showed an ability to make decisions by pursuing people who were running and trying to hide from him while he twice passed by a 91-year-old man who continued to shop, unaware of the shooting.
In addition, prosecutors said Alissa showed he took deliberate steps to make the attack as deadly as possible when he came armed with steel-piercing bullets and illegal magazines that can hold 30 rounds of ammunition.
Newsweek reached out to Boulder’s Prosecutors Office via email for comment.
Ahmad Alissa is led into a courtroom in Boulder, Colorado, on September 7, 2021. Alissa was found guilty on September 23 of murdering 10 people at a supermarket in Boulder in March 2021.
David Zalubowski/AP
Alissa’s mental state has been a point of contention amid the trial as several members of his family, who immigrated to the United States from Syria, testified that he had become withdrawn and spoke less a few years before the shooting, adding that he later began acting paranoid and showed signs of hearing voices.
According to his family, Alissa’s condition worsened after he got COVID-19 in late 2020. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the attack, and experts said the behaviors described by relatives are consistent with the onset of the disease.
Colorado law defines insanity as having a mental disease so severe that it’s impossible for a person to tell right from wrong.
Despite his schizophrenia diagnosis, state psychologists who evaluated Alissa concluded he was sane during the shooting. Alissa reportedly heard “killing voices” before the attack; however, experts said he did not experience delusions and that his fear that he could be jailed or killed by police revealed he understood the consequences of his actions.
The defense, meanwhile, did not have to provide evidence in the case and did not present any experts to say that Alissa was insane.
While prosecutors did not provide any motive for the attack, investigators noted Alissa had researched various public spaces in Boulder, including bars and restaurants.
Sentencing is expected to take place later today, with victims’ families anticipated to share statements with the court. Colorado’s laws on first-degree murder guarantee that Alissa will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Monday’s courtroom was already packed with victims’ families and police officers.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
