“It’s sad, but happy that we were able to honor his life,” Crystal Hootman told CNN. “I was talking to another resident and we both shop at the supermarket. I’m hoping, out of sadness, that Boulder will become an even better place to live,” she said.
Talley’s body was transported to a funeral home near Aurora, escorted by a procession of police and first aid vehicles.
At the King Soopers store, where the shooting took place, visitors left flowers and paid tribute to the ten people who died. Church chaplains were available to those in need, as was Cubby, an emotionally supportive golden retriever.
Monday’s attack started with an armed man shooting a man in the parking lot before entering the supermarket and opening fire. Employees and customers tried to flee as the sniper wandered the store’s aisles, according to witnesses and a statement of arrest.
The victims were: Talley, 51; store manager Rikki Olds, 25; store employee Denny Stong, 20; store employee Teri Leiker, 51; Neven Stanisic, 23; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver said on Wednesday that he spoke with President Joe Biden, who expressed his condolences and sympathy.
“Of course, the conversation revolved around what we can do to make sure it never happens in another community in our country, and then we explored a little,” the mayor told Pamela Brown of CNN. “The president expressed that he regretted that when the first federal ban on assault weapons was passed in 1994, there had to be a ten-year sunset for this to be approved.
“He further regretted that the sunset had occurred and the ban had expired. And then we talked about what measures could be taken at the federal level to ensure that things like this just didn’t happen to other communities.”
The sniper’s first appearance in court
While the community mourned the lost, the alleged sniper is expected to hear the charges at a hearing on Thursday.
It is not clear whether Alissa will be present, as a court document indicates that she has the right to waive the appearance in person. He will be informed of the charges he faces, his rights and the next trial date in his case, according to the statement.
“It is anticipated that this presentation will be the first court hearing in what is likely to be a lengthy court case,” the statement said. The audience will be accessible to the public online.
Investigators are working to discover a possible reason for the shooting, which left doubts about its location, according to a law enforcement official informed about the investigation. Alissa lives about 30 minutes from the grocery store and there are other supermarkets closer to her home.
The FBI is watching Alissa’s online activity and conducting interviews with friends and relatives, a law enforcement official told CNN, adding that Alissa had not previously been the subject of any FBI investigation and it appears that nothing in the federal system would have forbidden him to buy a weapon. of fire.
Two store employees are remembered
She shared her favorite memory of Stong, a close four-year-old friend to whom she had texted just an hour before the attack.
“Last year, on my birthday, he was one of the only people who gave me a birthday present, which made me feel very special,” Porter told Burnett. “He really liked aviation and stuff, so he brought his RC [radio controlled] plane and he was controlling it over the lagoon and just doing some really cool tricks with it. We were all laughing and having a great time. “
Porter said that Stong was working at the supermarket and dreamed of becoming a pilot.
“He was really passionate. Denny had a work ethic like no one I have ever met,” said Porter. “It is not the most interesting job, but he longed to do it, I never heard him complain about having to be late for work or something. He really did what he could and had no complaints.”
The store manager’s uncle Rikki Olds, 25, who was the victim of the shooting on Monday, spoke about his personality at a news conference on Wednesday.
“Rikki was a kind of light from our family,” said Robert Olds. “When Rikki showed up at home, we never knew what her hair color would be, we never knew what new tattoos she might have.
“But that was Rikki and Rikki lived his life on Rikki’s terms – not on anyone else’s terms.”
Olds also said that “she had dreams, had ambitions” and praised her as “a strong and independent young woman”. She had planned to be a nurse, he said, but her attention was turned to becoming a store manager at King Soopers.
Olds said the demonstration of support has been “overwhelming”, adding that “it just shows how many lives Rikki has touched,” he said.
“She snored when she laughed a lot and I will really miss her,” he said. “I will really miss that personality of hers.”
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Evan Perez, Konstantin Toropin, Jennifer Feldman, Amanda Jackson, Keith Allen and Amir Vera contributed to this report.