Woman recounts praying after falling while trying to escape Colorado supermarket shooting

BOULDER, Colorado — Elan Shakti was tired and had difficulty walking, but decided to go to the supermarket anyway to buy plants for a grieving family.

But as she was buying them, Shakti, now 79, heard gunfire and then someone yelling for people to run. Shakti, who had recently been diagnosed with a heart condition, knew she couldn’t do that, but she abandoned the cart she was using as support and tried to get out of the King Soopers store as quickly as she could.

Then she fell and couldn’t move. She had suffered a broken vertebra. She testified Friday at a trial for a man accused of killing 10 people at a store in the college town of Boulder, Colorado.

“I said, ‘God, I hope you’re ready for me, because I think this is it,’” Shakti said.

After hearing people running past, Shakti said she also prayed not to be trampled as she lay there on her chest. Later, she felt no one nearby, but she still heard gunshots and thought the shooter was coming toward her. Instead, a man helped lift her up and carry her outside to safety.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, multiple counts of attempted murder and other crimes, including banning six large-capacity magazines in Colorado after previous mass shootings.

Alissa begged not guilty by reason of insanityNo one, including Alissa’s lawyers, denies he was the shooter.

Despite Shakti’s fear, prosecutors say Alissa targeted people who moved and tried to get away from him, and it gave him a sense of power and an adrenaline rush. In one instance, they say he saw an older man but then walked past him, who continued shopping, not realizing a shooting was in progress.

Sarah Moonshadow also testified Friday about how she and her son were rushing to buy strawberries and tea at a self-checkout when the shooting began. Her son, now 25, wanted to run away immediately. But she told him to wait, listening for a pause from the gunman to reload before she could flee. She ducked down with her son near the kiosk, hearing gunfire and bodies falling.

She said Alissa looked at her and tried to lift the butt of his gun, but appeared to hit a platform near a cash register. She said she told her son to go and they ran, not in a straight line to avoid being hit.

“I guess I just moved and didn’t think about anything else,” Moonshadow said.

Moonshadow and her son are among 14 civilians Alissa is accused of trying to kill by shooting at or near them. He is also accused of attempting to murder 11 police officers.