Gunman who killed 10 people in Colorado supermarket found guilty of murder

In addition to ten counts of first-degree murder, the jury found Alissa guilty of 38 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault and six counts of illegal possession of large-capacity magazines.

First-degree murder is punishable by life imprisonment in Colorado. The verdict in this case is expected to be announced later on Monday. Victims and relatives are expected to appear in court during this time.

Alissa was visibly unresponsive as the judge began reading the guilty verdicts against him. He sat at a table with his lawyers and appeared to be exchanging notes with members of the defense team, at times speaking quietly to one of his lawyers.

Judge Ingrid Bakke had warned against outbursts of anger. On the victims' side of the courtroom, there were some tears and suppressed crying when the murder verdicts were read out.

The courtroom was packed with family members of the victims and police officers, including the one Alissa shot. Several members of Alissa's family sat directly behind him.

Nikolena Stanisic, whose only sibling, Neven, was killed, recalled going out for ice cream with her brother the night before the shooting and how he sometimes helped her pay the bills. She told the court that her household – once filled with conversation and laughter – is now largely silent.

“We hope the person who did this suffers for the rest of his life. He is a coward,” Stanisic said. “I hope this haunts the defendant for the rest of his days. The defendant deserves the absolute worst.”

Alissa began shooting immediately after getting out of his car in the parking lot of a King Soopers store in March 2021. He killed most of the victims in just over a minute and surrendered after a police officer shot him in the leg.

Erika Mahoney was six months pregnant in California when she learned of the attack that killed her father. She was so distraught she thought she was going to lose the baby, Mahoney said in court.

Mahoney said she wanted an apology or remorse from the shooter or his family, but received none.

“The door is still open,” she said. “Until then, let me start: I'm sorry for all the suffering you've had to endure in the past, present and future… I wish you had received more love.”

Until the trial, Mahoney said, she prayed that her father's final moments would be painless and that he would not know he was dying. But video of the attack shows that there was a chase and Kevin Mahoney tried to escape but could not find a place to hide, Erika Mahoney said.

Alissa sometimes looked at the victims' families as they spoke. Most of the time he sat hunched over, talking to his lawyer or writing.

Prosecutors had to prove Alissa was sane. They argued he did not fire randomly and proved he was competent by chasing people who were running and trying to hide from him. He twice passed a 91-year-old man who continued shopping, unaware of the shooting.

He was armed with steel-piercing bullets and illegal 30-round magazines, which prosecutors say indicates he took deliberate steps to make the attack as deadly as possible.

Several members of Alissa's family, who immigrated to the U.S. from Syria, testified that he had become withdrawn and less spoken for several years before the shooting. He later began acting paranoid and showing signs of hearing voices, and his condition worsened after he contracted COVID-19 in late 2020.

Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the attack and experts said behaviors described by relatives were consistent with the onset of the disease.

State forensic psychologists who examined Alissa concluded that he was mentally healthy at the time of the shooting. The defense was not required to present evidence in the case, nor did it present any experts who could prove Alissa's mental illness.

Although he heard voices, Alissa was not delusional, state psychologists said. They said his fear that he would be put in jail or killed by police showed that Alissa knew his actions were wrong.

Alissa repeatedly told psychologists that he heard voices, including “murder voices” immediately before the shooting. But during about six hours of questioning, Alissa failed to provide any details about the voices or say whether they said anything specific, forensic psychologist B. Thomas Gray testified.

Insanity is not the same as mental illness. Under Colorado law, insanity is a mental illness so severe that the person is unable to distinguish between right and wrong.

Victims' families attended the two-week trial and watched video footage from security cameras and police body cameras. Survivors testified how they escaped and, in some cases, helped others reach safety.

Prosecutors did not give a motive for the shooting. Alissa initially searched online for public places in Boulder that he could attack, including bars and restaurants. Then, the day before the shooting, he focused his research on large stores.

On the day of the attack, he drove from his home in the Denver suburb of Arvada to the first supermarket he found in Boulder. He shot three victims in the parking lot before entering the store.

An emergency room doctor said she crawled onto a shelf and hid among bags of potato chips. A pharmacist who took cover testified she heard Alissa say “This is fun” at least three times as he walked through the store firing his semi-automatic pistol, which resembled an AR-15 rifle.

Alissa's mother testified in court that she thought her son was “sick.” His father testified that he believed Alissa was possessed by a jinn or evil spirit, but did not seek treatment for his son because it would have been shameful for the family.

Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement after the verdict that justice had been done, but it would not ease the pain or bring back those killed. “Our loved ones, friends and neighbors were taken from us far too soon by an act of pure evil,” he said.