Shooting suspect had 10 high-capacity magazines

BOULDER, Colo. — The man accused of killing 10 people at a crowded Colorado supermarket last month armed himself with 10 high-capacity ammunition magazines, devices banned in the state after previous mass shootings, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told reporters that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, possessed the magazines that hold more than 15 rounds unlawfully but that investigators don’t believe Alissa bought the magazines illegally.

The high-capacity magazines were banned in Colorado after the 2012 mass shootings at a suburban Denver movie theater and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Although the magazines can’t be sold, people in the state can still buy the parts for the magazines at some gun stores and assemble them on their own, at which point it is illegal to possess them.

The magazines were found on Alissa and in a car parked outside the King Soopers store in Boulder after the March 22 attack, Dougherty said. He declined to say how many unused bullets investigators recovered and did not say how many bullets the magazines seized could hold.

Investigators have still not determined a possible motive, and there is no indication that Alissa, who is from the suburb of Arvada, had visited the supermarket before the attack, Dougherty said.

Besides the murder charges Alissa was originally charged with, Dougherty said his office has filed more than 40 new felony charges against Alissa, including attempted murder charges involving responding police officers and shoppers.

A document made public Wednesday outlines the new charges and lists 19 new victims — including 11 law enforcement officers — whom Alissa is accused of trying to kill.