Colorado attack seventh mass shooting in seven days in US
Police work on the scene outside of a King Soopers grocery store where a shooting took place Monday. Picture: David Zalubowski/AP
The mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday is the seventh mass shooting in seven days to occur in the United States including three on Saturday alone.
On Saturday March 20, there were mass shootings in Houston, Dallas and Philadelphia.
Five people were shot in a nightclub in Houston and eight people were shot in a nightclub in Dallas, one of whom died.
On the same day, six people were shot at a party in Philadelphia, one of whom lost their life.
There were a further three mass shootings in the United States last week, including an attack in Atlanta Georgia on March 16 which saw eight people, including six Asian women, lose their lives when a gunman stormed opened fire in three spas.
On St Patrick's Day, five people who were preparing a vigil in Stockton, in California were shot in a drive-by shooting.
On Thursday, March 18, four people were shot and wounded early Thursday at a suburban motel in Portland, Oregon.
On Monday, March 22, a shooter at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people, including a police officer who was the first to respond to the scene.
Police arrested a suspect, but did not reveal his name or any details about the shooting at a news conference where Boulder police Chief Maris Herold fought back tears.
Investigators have started sorting through evidence and witness interviews and do not yet have details on a motive for the shooting at the King Soopers store in Boulder, which is about 25 miles northwest of Denver and home to the University of Colorado, said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
He said: “This is a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County."
“These were people going about their day, doing their shopping. I promise the victims and the people of the state of Colorado that we will secure justice.”
The killed officer was identified as Eric Talley, 51, who had been with Boulder police since 2010, Mr Herold said.
“He was by all accounts one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut too short,” Mr Dougherty said.
Identities of the other nine victims were not disclosed on Monday night as police were still notifying their family members.
Matthew Kirsch, the acting US attorney for Colorado, pledged that “the full weight of federal law enforcement” will support the investigation.
He said investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the crime scene, along with FBI agents.
Officers had escorted a shirtless man with blood running down his leg out of the store in handcuffs but authorities would not say if he was the suspect.
They did say the suspect was receiving medical care and was the only person injured who did not die.
Dean Schiller told The Associated Press that he had just left the supermarket when he heard gunshots and saw three people lying face down, two in the car park and one near the doorway.
He said he “couldn’t tell if they were breathing."
Video posted on YouTube showed one person on the floor inside the store and two more outside on the ground. What sounds like two gunshots are also heard at the beginning of the video.
Law enforcement vehicles and officers massed outside the store, including Swat teams, and at least three helicopters landed on the roof.
At one point, authorities said over a loudspeaker that the building was surrounded and that “you need to surrender”.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis tweeted a statement that his “heart is breaking as we watch this unspeakable event unfold in our Boulder community”.
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