Maniac who shot 10 people in Colorado supermarket made chilling comment during his rampage
A man who gunned down ten people in a Colorado supermarket claimed he was having “fun” when he carried out his terrifying shooting spree, it has been revealed.
Survivors of the 2021 shooting at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, testified in court Thursday about the chilling behavior of gunman Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa.
Pharmacist Sarah Chen said she heard the comments as she and her colleagues hid from Alissa.
“I heard him yelling, ‘This is fun. This is fun,’” she told the court.
After years of turmoil in court over his mental state, Alissa’s trial began last week and is expected to conclude by the end of this month.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 35, opened fire at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, in March 2021, killing ten people
During the trial of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, pharmacist Sarah Chen, pictured here, said she heard comments while hiding with her colleagues at the pharmacy counter
Alissa has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting. Despite his plea, no one, including his own attorneys, has disputed that he was the shooter.
After the horrific massacre, Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a condition that is resistant to treatment.
Alissa poses for a photo at a jail booking in Boulder, Colorado, US, March 23, 2021
According to his lawyers, he suffered from hallucinations. For example, he heard screaming voices, saw people who weren’t there and had the idea that he was being followed.
They argued that he should not be found guilty because at the time of the shooting he was unable to tell the difference between right and wrong.
He is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, multiple counts of attempted murder and other crimes, including the ban on six large-capacity magazines in Colorado after previous mass shootings.
Alissa allegedly fired shots outside the supermarket and shot at least one person in the parking lot before going inside, employees told investigators.
Employees and customers tried to escape the violence, some exiting through the loading and unloading bays at the rear of the building, others seeking cover in nearby stores.
According to investigators, he researched how to carry out a mass shooting before carrying out the attack himself.
They also say he targeted moving people and shot most of the 10 victims in just over a minute with a weapon that had a large magazine.
Armed police officers are seen outside broken windows at King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder after reports of shots fired on Monday, March 22, 2021
King Soopers employees are led away from the supermarket massacre in March 2021
The victims were identified as: Denny Strong, 20, Neven Stanisic, 23, Rikki Olds, 25, Suzanne Fountain, 59, Terri Leiker, 51, Eric Talley, 51, Kevin Mahoney, 61, Lynn Murray, 62, Jodie Waters, 65, and Tralona Bartkowiak, 49.
Talley was a cop who had recently changed jobs to work more on the front lines when he was killed. He was also a father of seven.
Leiker worked at the supermarket for 30 years. She was in a relationship with a coworker who survived the shooting.
Witnesses described him firing two of the three shots and then calmly stopping before opening fire again. One survivor said he didn’t “spray.”
Last October, a judge ruled that Alissa was competent to stand trial and allowed the stalled prosecution to proceed.
Judge Ingrid Bakke said in a ruling that she was convinced that Alissa, after the forced medication, “had a much better ability to clarify his reasoning and decision-making.”
