BOULDER, Colo. — An hour after the murders of 10 people at a King Soopers store in Boulder, law officers had a man in handcuffs they believed was responsible — and fears that other shooters might still be inside.
It was March 22, 2021, and the officers’ body-worn cameras captured their exchanges with Ahmad Alissa, the man who is scheduled to go on trial in early September on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 54 other charges.
The footage played in a hushed Boulder County courtroom on Tuesday morning. It showed the officers peppering the man with questions — and his own thoughts.
“I want to go home,” the man said. “I want to talk to my mom … let me talk to my mon.”
An officer told him they’d arrange that – after he answered some questions.
“Did you come here by yourself?” an officer asked.
“Yes,” the man replied.
It was roughly an hour after the killings, and the man wore only a pair of underwear after having taken off most of his clothes inside the store. He bled from a gunshot wound in the leg.
“Is there anyone else that’s going to get hurt?” an officer asked.
“I don’t know,” the man replied. “I don’t think so.”
“Is there anybody inside that’s going to shoot at us?” the officer asked.
“I don’t think so,” the man answered.
That video and others showing the man’s arrest inside the store and the attempt by officers to talk to him in the hospital were played during the hearing.
Judge Ingrid Bakke is considering whether to allow any of the videos to be shown to the jury — either in the prosecution’s main case or in its rebuttal to the defense case.
Bakke took the issue and several others under advisement and said she will issue written rulings in the coming days.
The man has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorneys have acknowledged that he was the shooter who killed the people in the store at 3600 Table Mesa Drive.
The burden will fall to prosecutors to prove not only that he committed the crimes but that he was not insane when he did — that he knew the difference between right and wrong and did not have a mental illness that prevented him from forming a culpable mental state. The man is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder after deliberation — meaning that he thought about and intended to cause the deaths.
The criminal case stalled for more than two years after multiple doctors reported that the man was not mentally competent to stand trial — meaning he could not understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense.
After treatment and medication, the judge ruled in the fall of 2023 that the man’s competency had been restored.
If found guilty of any of the murder charges, the man would be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole. If he were to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could be committed to a mental institution, where he would be treated until he was deemed no longer a danger to himself or others.
Jury selection is scheduled to start Aug. 26. Prospective jurors will come in that week and fill out questionnaires, which will be turned over to defense attorneys and prosecutors. Then on Sept. 3, the attorneys will begin the process of questioning prospective jurors in person.
Opening statements could come as early as Sept. 5.
Contact 9NEWS investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.