Boulder shooting: Biden calls for immediate gun control action as details on suspected shooter emerge
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Your support makes all the difference.The Boulder Police Department has revealed the names of the 10 people killed during a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, with local police officer Eric Talley, 51, among the victims.
The youngest victim was 20 years old and the oldest victim was 65 years old. Their families were notified shortly after 3am local time on Tuesday morning after all victims were identified by police.
Police also revealed the identity of the 21-year-old suspect. He was currently in the hospital seeking medical treatment but in stable condition, police said. He is expected to be released from the hospital and transported to Boulder County Jail later on Tuesday.
The suspect was charged with 10 counts of murder following the attack that started at 3pm local time on Monday. Eyewitnesses described a male gunman in tactical gear opening fire in silence on terrified shoppers.
“We had a very tragic incident today,” Chief Yamaguchi said on Monday. “There was loss of life, we have multiple people who were killed in this incident, and I am sorry to have to report that one of them was a Boulder police officer.”
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The attack stunned a state that has seen several mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting.
Victims’ names will not be released until families briefed
Other than that of Officer Talley, no further names of the deceased will be released until their loved ones have been informed, says the Boulder Police Department.
Here’s Maroosha Muzaffar with everything we know so far.
Democratic congresswoman: ‘We can’t continue to live like this'
Here’s some more political reaction to yesterday’s events from local representative Diana DeGette, who makes an emotional appeal for gun reform.
Heavy police presence and reunited survivors embracing among images captured at the scene
Here’s more from the aftermath of yesterday’s attack in Boulder.
NRA responds to Boulder mass shooting
The once all-powerful National Rifle Association, which has been hit by infighting and funding issues in recent years, has issued this response to yesterday’s atrocity, quoting the Second Amendment to the Constitution and once again implicitly arguing that more guns are the solution, not fewer.
Seven other mass shootings have taken place within 40 miles of Boulder in living memory
As Insider points out this morning, yesterday’s attack in the Colorado university town is only the latest tragedy of this stripe to strike the mountain state within the last two decades.
The 1999 Columbine High School massacre took place just 33 miles away, in which senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher and injured 24 others.
The cinema in which James Holmes opened fire during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises is also nearby, a shocking incident in which he shot dead 12 audience members and wounded 70 more.
Gun violence also erupted at Deer Creek Middle School in 2010 and at Arapahoe High School in 2013, both within an hour of King Soopers.
The 2017 Thornton shooting - in which a gunman walked into a Walmart and shot three people dead near the checkouts before fleeing - also happened just 20 miles away.
Most recently, two shootings took place in the vicinity of the supermarket in 2019, one involving a 17-year-old gunman opening fire at a JC Penney store in the Aurora Town Center Mall, the other taking place at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch where nine students were shot and one died.
Tributes paid and police procession held for slain officer
Eric Talley, who was killed by the gunman yesterday, was 51-years-old and reportedly the father of seven children, joining the force 11 years ago.
His colleagues took part in a spectacular procession through the city streets last night in his memory.
Here’s James Crump’s story.
Video captures huge procession of cars paying tribute to police officer killed in Boulder
Tributes poured in for Eric Talley following his death on Monday afternoon
‘I saw a lot of very wide eyes’
Eyewitness Ryan Borowski has been speaking to CNN’s Alisyn Camerota this morning.
Killed officer, father of seven, wanted new life away from front line dangers
More details are emerging about the victims, including a police officer, Eric Talley.
The 51-year-old, who was among the 10 killed, had seven children and had been looking for a new job in order to protect his family, his father said.
Mr Talley was the first on the scene, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said, lauding his intervention as “heroic”.
He had joined the police just over a decade ago and had been looking to eventually find a new line of work, his father Homer said in a statement issued to local media.
“He was looking for a job to keep himself off of the front lines and was learning to be a drone operator. He didn’t want to put his family through something like this,” Homer Talley said.
“He had seven children. The youngest is seven-years-old. He loved his kids and his family more than anything.”
Lauren Boebert criticized for tweeting about Biden during shooting in her state
Second Amendment advocate Lauren Boebert is facing criticism for tweeting about Joe Biden’s “lid” as dozens of police rushed to a shooting at a Colorado grocery store.
“The White House just called a lid at 1.13 pm today. Biden is back in the basement, figuratively at least,” Ms Boebert tweeted.
“Meanwhile, the country is in chaos and the border is coming apart at the seams.”
The tweet, which had 6,500 likes, had 2,500 comments that heavily focused on the timing of her criticism over Joe Biden’s daily schedule.
Boulder shooting ‘absolutely baffling’, says Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris has described the Boulder shooting as “absolutely baffling” as she paid tribute to the victims who were “living their lives, not bothering anybody”.
A pool report quoted the US vice president as saying: “It’s absolutely baffling, it’s 10 people going about their day living their lives, not bothering anybody.
“A police officer who is performing his duties, and with great courage and heroism.”
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