Store owner: Boulder suspect passed check before buying gun
The suspect in the Colorado supermarket shooting bought a gun before the shooting at a local gun store after passing a background check, the store’s owner said Friday.
John Mark Eagleton, owner of Eagles Nest Armory in the Denver suburb of Arvada, said in a statement that his store was cooperating with authorities as they investigate the Monday shooting that killed 10 people, including a police officer.
Eagleton said the suspect in the shooting, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, passed a background check conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation before purchasing the firearm.
Authorities previously said Alissa, 21, purchased the AR-15 style gun used in the mass shooting on March 16, six days before
Monday’s fatal shootings. Alissa is from Arvada.
“We are absolutely shocked by what happened and our hearts are broken for the victims and families that are left behind. Ensuring every sale that occurs at our shop is lawful, has always been and will always remain the highest priority for our business,” Eagleton said in the statement.
The statement added: “Regarding the firearm in question, a background check of the purchaser was conducted as required by Colorado law and approval for the sale was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues.”
About 2,000 people gathered Thursday night for a vigil honoring the 10 people killed, after attorneys for the shooting suspect
asked during his first court appearance that he receive a mental health evaluation before the case against him proceeds.
The memorial at Fairview High School, a halfmile from the scene of the shooting at a King Soopers supermarket, emphasized remembrance and healing. The crowd said aloud the names of those slain this week in Boulder after one resident read the names of the eight people killed in a mass shooting in Georgia just days earlier.
Many held candles and roses while locking arms or embracing each other near the base of the snow-covered Rocky Mountain foothills. After a singer led the crowd in “Amazing Grace,” Nicole LiaBraaten, a local leader of the gun-control group Moms Demand Action, asked people to “take a healing breath.”
“Our hearts are broken, and our festering wounds are split open once again. And this time it’s for the whole world to see,” said Liabraaten, whose group helped organize the vigil.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, whose district includes Boulder, told the crowd no words could describe how he felt when he heard about the shooting.
“Ten lives. Ten precious lives lost too soon and remembered by so many,” he said.