10 people killed after gunman opens fire at Boulder, Colorado, grocery store

At least 10 people, including a Boulder police officer, were killed in a shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, authorities said Monday.

A suspect is in custody, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said.

One senior law enforcement source told CNN the weapon used in the shooting was an AR-15-style rifle.

The shopping center was still an active crime scene hours after the shooting with a massive police presence.

The Boulder police tweeted about 2:49 p.m. (4:49 p.m. ET) that there was an “Active Shooter at the King Soopers on Table Mesa. AVOID THE AREA.”

As events unfolded, CNN affiliate KMGH’s helicopter recorded a shirtless man being taken from the supermarket. The man had what appeared to be blood on his arm and right leg and his hands appeared to be cuffed behind him as two officers escorted him away. The man was taken away in an ambulance.

It was unclear whether the man was involved in the reported active shooting inside the store.

At one point, police officials tweeted they wanted people at another location, about three miles away, to shelter in place because of a “report of armed, dangerous individual.” But it turned out the second site was not connected to the supermarket shooting, officials said.

Police/coroner will not release names of other victims until families have been notified. Chief says she knows there are families waiting in anguish to hear about loved ones:
"I am sensitive to that, and we will work around the clock to get this accomplished."

— Boulder Police Dept. (@boulderpolice) March 23, 2021

Some of the shooting was livestreamed by witness

 

Video taken by an eyewitness to the supermarket shooting appeared to show motionless individuals on the ground inside and outside the store, and purported gunshots are heard.

The video, taken by Dean Schiller, is part of a longer livestream that he showed as the shooting progressed, and police arrived.

In the excerpt, Schiller is heard calling out saying that people need to call 911.

“We don’t know if there’s a shooter, active shooter somewhere,” Schiller says in the video.

Asking what appears to be a store employee whether a shooter went into the store, the man responds, “Yeah, he went in there.”

“He went in the store?” Schiller questioned the man.

“He went right down there,” the man responds.

“Oh, my God,” Schiller reacts. “Guys, we got people down inside Kings Soopers.”

Schiller then says, “Look there’s — ” but doesn’t finish his sentence as two gunshots stop his speaking.

Authorities have not said how many victims were at the scene.

Herold said #Boulder police officer killed was Eric Talley, hired in 2010

— Mitchell Byars (@mitchellbyars) March 23, 2021

 

Couple hears shots and flees through emergency door

 

A young man and woman described being in the store when they heard the first shots. The man told KMGH he heard one gunshot and then a few seconds later several more bangs.

“I immediately sprinted over to her and we got out of here and pushed open the emergency door,” said the man.

He said he went back to stand by an emergency exit door and help people get out. He said he never saw the shooter.

Ryan Borowski told CNN he was shopping at the store when he heard the first shots, and by the third one, everyone was running. He said he couldn’t believe it happened in his town.

“Boulder feels like a bubble, and the bubble burst,” Borowski said. “This feels like the safest spot in America, and I just nearly got killed for getting a soda and a bag of chips.”

 

Large law enforcement presence at the store

 

Ambulances and multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the store, which is part of a large shopping center with a two-story strip mall next door.

KMGH’s helicopter recorded police leading several people away from the store.

At one point, police were also seen moving on the roof of the store. The reason for the roof movements was unclear, but one witness who spoke to CNN affiiate KCNC said his relatives in the store were evacuated through the roof.

“They hid, ran upstairs, were hiding in a coat closet for the last hour,” the man said. “Half a dozen cops came in through the roof and got them and then told them, you know, ‘Stay quiet.'”

Police were also seen looking in cars in the parking lot.

Gov. Jared Polis tweeted that he was aware of the situation.

“Like my fellow Coloradans, I am closely watching unfolding events at King Soopers in Boulder,” Polis wrote. “My prayers are with our fellow Coloradans in this time of sadness and grief as we learn more about the extent of the tragedy.”

King Soopers is a supermarket brand of Kroger in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.