BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) -A 21-year-old man faces 10 counts of murder in connection with Monday’s mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store, authorities said on Tuesday.
The suspect was in stable condition after he was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with responding police officers at the King Soopers outlet in Boulder, about 28 miles northwest of Denver, on Monday afternoon.
The 10 victims, whose names were released at a Tuesday morning news conference, range in age from 20 to 65 and include Eric Talley, an 11-year veteran of the Boulder police force. Talley, 51, was the father of seven children and had recently been looking for a less dangerous job, according to a statement released by his father.
Authorities have not yet offered a possible motive for the bloodshed, which came six days after a gunman went on a killing spree in the Atlanta area, fatally shooting eight people at three day spas before he was arrested.
Monday’s attack drew hundreds of police officers to the scene and sent terrified shoppers and employees fleeing for safety. The massacre added to the Rocky Mountain state’s tragic list of mass killings, including the 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora and the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School near Littleton.
“My heart aches today,” Governor Jared Polis told the briefing. “Not only did we lose 10 lives, but this is real horror and terror for all of us.”
Witnesses in Colorado described a chaotic and frightening scene inside the store.
Ryan Borowski, 37, went in looking for something to satisfy a sugar craving. He had picked out a 12-pack of soda and a bag of chips when he heard shots ring out, sending him scurrying for the store’s back exit.
“It was pretty terrifying,” he said. “Fastest fire drill I’ve ever been in.”
Sarah Moonshadow, 42, was at the checkout line with her adult son, Nicholas, when the gunfire began.
“And I said, ‘Nicholas, get down.’ And Nicholas ducked. And we just started listening and there, just repetitive shots … and I just said, ‘Nicholas, run,'” she said.
Moonshadow said she tried to attend to a victim she saw lying on the pavement outside the store, but her son pulled her away, telling her, ‘We have to go.'” She broke down in sobs recounting their ordeal, adding, “I couldn’t help anybody.”
(Reporting by Alyson McClaran in Boulder, Colo., and Keith Coffman in Denver; Additional reporting by Kevin Mohatt in Boulder, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Gabriella Borter and Susan Heavey in Washington, Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif., and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Stephen Coates and Jonathan Oatis)
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