Chicago Sun-Times

Colorado supermarke­t shooting suspect has schizophre­nia

- BY COLLEEN SLEVIN

DENVER — Lawyers for a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarke­t in 2021 confirm he has schizophre­nia, with one expert finding he was “approachin­g catatonia” before being moved to the state mental hospital for treatment.

The defense informatio­n, contained in a court filing earlier this month, provides the clearest picture to date of 23-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa’s mental health. District Attorney Michael Dougherty had mentioned last month that Alissa had been showing symptoms of schizophre­nia, a mental disorder which causes people to have trouble understand­ing reality, but would not elaborate.

In their Feb. 16 brief, Alissa’s lawyers said that four psychologi­sts have concluded that Alissa has schizophre­nia, with an expert selected by prosecutor­s concluding that Alissa was “approachin­g catatonia” while he was still in jail. Catatonia can result in people being unable to move or speak at all, they said. That evaluation was done before Alissa was first found mentally incompeten­t to stand trial in December 2021 and moved to the state mental hospital for treatment. His prosecutio­n has been on hold since then.

The defense brief was filed in response to the district attorney’s request to allow another prosecutio­n expert to conduct a different kind of evaluation of Alissa. Dougherty alleges that Alissa has refused to participat­e in some of his treatment at the hospital, including talking about the March 22, 2021, shooting and participat­ing in group sessions and sometimes also refusing one-on-one meetings. He wants a forensic neuropsych­ological evaluation to be done on Alissa to know if his refusals are the result of mental illness or a conscious choice to not participat­e.

Alissa is accused of opening fire outside and inside a King Soopers store in the college town of Boulder, killing customers, workers and a police officer who rushed in to try to stop the attack. Alissa surrendere­d after another officer shot and wounded him, authoritie­s said.

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