Colorado supermarket shooter sentenced to life in prison without parole

A gunman who shot and killed ten people at a Colorado grocery store in 2021 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A jury found 25-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa guilty on Monday of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 45 other charges.

Alissa, who broadcast the shooting on YouTube, never denied being the shooter but pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

However, the jury concluded that he was sane at the time of the attack.

“Justice has finally been served,” said Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, whose office prosecuted the case.

Alissa's conviction came after a series of emotional victim impact statements from family members who lost loved ones in the attack.

“He gave us a life sentence and robbed us of our family. Why should he get less?” asks Olivia MacKenzie, the daughter of victim Lynn Murray.

Margie Whittington, who lost her daughter Teri Leiker, said: “We want the shooter to know that this murder has changed us.”

Alissa killed the victims, who ranged in age from 20 to 65, including a police officer, during an hours-long standoff at a branch of the popular King Soopers grocery chain in Colorado.

After the shooting began, customers and employees of the store had to take cover or run for their lives.

He was held without bail and granted a mental health hearing requested by his defense attorney.

His lawyers said he was suffering from mental illness on the day of the shooting and was unable to distinguish right from wrong during the attack.

The Associated Press reported that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the shooting.

According to the Denver Post, his lawyers also said he heard voices instructing him to carry out the attack.

However, in order for Alissa to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, he had to prove that he did not know he was doing anything wrong at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors argued that purchasing the gun and ammunition, researching the locations, and then deciding to pursue some victims were all evidence that Alissa was aware of his actions.

Over the course of ten days, witnesses from the store and police officers who responded to the shooting testified in court.

The jury found Alissa, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, guilty on all 10 counts, as well as 38 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault and six counts of possession of large firearms magazines.

The attack on the grocery store in the city of Boulder, about 50 kilometers from the state capital Denver, occurred less than a week after another Mass shooting in Atlanta Eight people died.