Boulder (Colorado): A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer. The suspect was taken into custody, authorities said. Boulder police Chief Maris Herold announced the death toll at a news conference Monday night, fighting back tears. The suspect was getting medical treatment and there was no further threat to the public, authorities said. Officers had escorted a shirtless man with blood running down his leg out of the store in handcuffs. However, they refused to say whether that particular man was the suspect.
The officer who was killed was identified Eric Talley, 51, who had been with Boulder police since 2010, Herold said.
Victims’ families were still being notified so their names weren’t released, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty informed. “This is a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County. In response, we have cooperation and assistance from local, state and federal authorities,” Dougherty said.
Yamaguchi said police were still investigating and didn’t have details on a motive for the shooting at the King Soopers store. The store is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Denver and home to the University of Colorado.
Dean Schiller told this agency that he had just left the supermarket when he heard gunshots and saw three people lying face down. Two of them were in the parking lot and one near the doorway. He said he ‘couldn’t tell if they were breathing’.
Law enforcement vehicles and officers massed outside the store, including SWAT teams. At least three helicopters with security personnel landed on the roof. Some windows at the front of the store were broken. At one point, authorities said over a loudspeaker that the building was surrounded and that ‘you need to surrender’.
Sarah Moonshadow told the ‘Denver Post’ that two shots rang out just after she and her son, Nicolas Edwards, finished buying strawberries. She said she told her son to get down and then ‘we just ran’.
Once they got outside, she said they saw a body in the parking lot. Edwards said police were speeding into the lot and pulled up next to the body. “I knew we couldn’t do anything for the guy,” Edwards said. “We had to go.”
One person was taken from the shooting scene to Foothills Hospital in Boulder, said Rich Sheehan.
The FBI said it’s helping in the investigation at the request of police. White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting.