The man accused of killing people near and inside a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store passed a background check.
John Mark Eagleton, owner of Eagles Nest Armory in the Denver suburb of Arvada, said the alleged shooter, who has been identified as Ahmad al Aliwi Alissa, 21, purchased the firearm lawfully.
“We are absolutely shocked by what happened and our hearts are broken for the victims and families that are left behind. Ensuring every sale that occurs at our shop is lawful, has always been and will always remain the highest priority for our business,” Eagleton said in the statement to Western Slope Now. “Regarding the firearm in question, a background check of the purchaser was conducted as required by Colorado law and approval for the sale was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues.”
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Nothing in the federal system would have prevented Alissa from passing a background check and buying a firearm, according to CNN.
Alissa, who has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, is accused of opening fire at the King Soopers supermarket on Monday. The victims of the shooting were identified as: Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; police officer Eric Talley, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
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The alleged gunman was shot in the leg during the attack, and he was later hospitalized for his injury.
Alissa made his first court appearance on Thursday, but he did not enter a plea to the charges. Kathryn Herold, Alissa’s attorney, asked for a mental health check “to address his mental illness.”
While law enforcement officials have been hesitant to reveal a possible motive, his brother, Ali Aliwi Alissa, claimed the suspect has been paranoid dating back to his time in high school, where he said he was bullied.
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The alleged shooter also has a history of violent outbursts, including one time in 2017, when he was 18, where he attacked a high school classmate, according to an affidavit. He punched the fellow student, whom he later told officers “had made fun of him and called him racial names weeks earlier,” in the head and continued to do so even after the boy fell to the ground. He was subsequently convicted of misdemeanor assault a year later and was sentenced to two months of probation and 48 hours of community service.
