The gun used in the mass shooting in Boulder was bought legally, said the police chief

The gun used in the deadly shooting at a Colorado supermarket was legally purchased, Boulder’s chief of police said on Friday. Meanwhile, the prosecutor said the suspect he would face new charges of attempted murder in the coming weeks.

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said the gun allegedly used by Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa in the shooting, a Ruger AR-556 semiautomatic pistol, was legally purchased from a gun store in the Denver suburb where the suspect lived. The suspect remains detained without bail after appearing in court for the first time on Thursday to be formally informed about the 10 murder charges and an attempted murder he was already facing.

Herold also said the suspect had a 9 mm gun, but police do not believe the gun was used in Monday’s shooting.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said the suspect would face an unspecified number of additional charges of attempted first-degree murder because several police officers who responded to the shooting faced a significant amount of shots from the suspect.

“Immediately after answering, they entered the store,” said Dougherty. “His actions saved others, other civilians, from being killed.”

The 21-year-old suspect was expected to come in with an appeal to the initial charges at a later date.

Authorities said they are still investigating the reason for the shooting.

“I think the victims’ families and the community are desperate to find out why,” said Dougherty. “We want to know why, and that will be the focus of all our efforts going forward. It remains to be seen whether or not we are able to determine that.”