Colorado Supermarket Shooter Convicted of Murder in Killing of 10 People | Latest Gun Violence Update

A jury has found Ahmad Alissa guilty of murdering 10 people at a Colorado grocery store in 2021 and rejected the defence’s plea that he was insane at the time of the shooting. Alissa, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, opened fire at the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, killing three people in the car park before heading inside. The prosecution argued that Alissa’s behavior during the attack showed intent and that he was capable of distinguishing right from wrong. Despite Alissa’s claim that he heard voices and experienced paranoia leading up to the attack, state forensic psychologists stated that he was still sane at the time of the killings. The jury’s decision was informed by testimony from survivors of the shooting, including one who described hiding among potato chip bags to escape the gunfire. Alissa’s family reported that he had become increasingly withdrawn and paranoid in the years leading up to the attack but had not received mental health treatment. The verdict comes after a trial filled with emotional testimonies and evidence showing that Alissa had researched locations for possible attacks. Although Alissa’s mental illness likely played a role in the attack, Colorado law distinguishes between mental illness and legal insanity, defining the latter as the inability to discern right from wrong due to severe mental disease. Alissa, who was born in Syria and came to the US as a child, could now face life in prison for the shooting.

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