The suspected sniper who killed 10 people in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, this week was known to the FBI, according to a report.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, a 21-year-old from Arvada, a Denver suburb, was linked to another individual under investigation by the department, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing law enforcement officials. No further details were provided.
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Boulder police identified Alissa as the suspect in the shooting on Tuesday. He was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and imprisoned in Boulder County Jail.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, is suspected of killing 10 people on Monday in a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. (Boulder Police Department)
Alissa purchased an AR-15 rifle on March 16, six days before 10 people, including a police officer, were shot on Monday at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, according to an arrest statement. It was not immediately known where the suspect bought the gun.
One of the victims was Boulder veteran police officer Eric Talley. The others were identified as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62, and Jody Waters, 65.
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After the shooting, a woman who identified herself as Alissa’s sister-in-law told police she saw him “playing” with a gun that looked like a “machine gun” and took it from him two days before the deadly uproar, the statement said.
Investigators have not established the reason for the attack, said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
The police and a former high school wrestling teammate described Alissa as someone subject to sudden anger.
When he was in his final year of high school in 2018, Alissa was found guilty of assaulting a classmate, according to a police statement.
Alissa “got up in the classroom, walked over to the victim and ‘hit’ him on the head,” said the statement. Alissa complained that the student made fun of him and called him “racial names” weeks earlier. An Arvada police report on the incident said the victim was bloody and vomiting after the attack. Alissa was suspended from school and sentenced to probation and community service.
Angel Hernandez, a former high school wrestling teammate, said that Alissa was furious after losing a practice match once, screaming that she would kill everyone. Hernandez said the coach expelled Alissa from the team for the blast.
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“He was one of those guys with a short temper,” Hernandez told the Associated Press. “Once he gets angry, it’s like something takes over and it’s not him. There’s no stopping him at that point.”
A law enforcement officer informed of the shooting said the suspect’s family told investigators that he believed Alissa was suffering from some form of mental illness, including delusions.
Relatives described occasions when Alissa said there were people following or chasing him, which they said may have contributed to the violence, the official said.
Hernandez said that Alissa also acted strange at times, turning around suddenly or looking over her shoulder. “He said, ‘Did you see this? Did you see this?'”, Hernandez recalled. “We wouldn’t see anything. We always thought he was playing with us.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.