Colorado supermarket shooter Ahmad Alissa who shot 10 dead is convicted of murder
A mentally ill gunman who shot and killed 10 people at a Colorado supermarket has been convicted of murder.
Ahmad Alissa was found guilty by a jury Monday afternoon in the March 2021 massacre in Boulder and faces a possible life sentence.
Alissa’s attorneys had attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He is a diagnosed schizophrenic.
The convicted murderer remained calm as the verdict was read, speaking softly to his defense team as he learned he could face life behind bars.
Relatives of the victims wept softly in the courtroom.
During the mass shooting, Alissa immediately opened fire after getting out of his car in the parking lot.
Most of his victims were shot dead within 60 seconds.
Ahmad Alissa is pictured in court Monday, shortly before he was sentenced for killing 10 people during a March 2021 massacre at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado
Alissa’s attorneys had attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He is a diagnosed schizophrenic
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Alissa was aware of his actions, as evidenced by his decision to seemingly target certain victims while ignoring others around him.
He stopped and only surrendered when an officer shot him in the leg.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Alissa was aware of his actions, as evidenced by his decision to seemingly target only certain victims while ignoring others around him.
A survivor testified that she heard Alissa say, “This is fun,” during the shooting.
The court heard Alissa chased people who ran from him and took cover, while a 91-year-old man walked through his shop unaware that shots were being fired, despite passing the gunman twice.
Family members testified that Alissa, who arrived in the United States from Syria, had become withdrawn and isolated before the shooting. He reportedly began hearing voices and became increasingly paranoid in the lead-up to the attack.
After the tragedy, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
During the mass shooting, Alissa opened fire immediately after getting out of his car in the parking lot. Most of his victims were shot within 60 seconds
The court heard that Alissa chased people who ran from him and took cover
In Colorado, the threshold at which a person is legally incompetent (and therefore cannot be found guilty) is when the person has a mental illness so severe that he or she can no longer distinguish right from wrong.
Prosecutors successfully argued that Alissa, although mentally ill, was still sane when she committed the crime.
He had been researching public places in Boulder where he wanted to carry out the attack online. Initially, he searched extensively for bars and restaurants, but the day before the shooting, he focused on large retail stores.
There’s more to come