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Grieving over Boulder Victims

THE DEBATE ON GUN CONTROL REACTIVATED

El Comercio de Colorado Newsroom

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Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, allegedly guilty of the Boulder massacre, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Alissa, 21, of Syrian origin, faces life in prison, the maximum penalty in Colorado, after voters abolished the death penalty in 2018. According to authorities, the suspect in the shooting had an AR-15 assault rifle and a semi-automatic pistol that he would have bought four days before committing the crime.

Authorities have not reported whether the suspect used both in the attack. The investigators of the case must also provide their report on the motives for the attack. Alissa, wounded in the leg during the event and admitted to a hospital, was transferred to a Boulder County jail. It was discovered that the suspect had two clashes with the Arvada Police in 2018, a third-degree assault and a criminal offense.

In a statement to the local media, a brother of Alissa said that the young man suffered from persecution mania and found it difficult to control his anger. These circumstances did not prevent Alissa from carrying firearms. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) already knew who Alissa was because he had ties to another person whom that agency was investigating, added the publication of the New York newspaper.

Tribute to Talley

While the police report is known, the funeral ceremonies of some of the 10 victims were carried out. Hundreds of Boulder residents took to the streets to pay tribute to Eric Talley, a Boulder Police officer, killed in the massacre. “We feel great regret. The pain is immense, and I don’t know how to express it,” said Norma Montero Walsh, during the tribute to Talley. The burial of three other victims took place in private ceremonies.

New debate

This massacre has reactivated the debate on gun control, one of the most intense and sterile in US politics. President Biden called for a “new ban on assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines,” referring to a national veto of such rifles that was passed in the United States in 1994 but that expired in 2004.