Local prosecutors in Colorado on Wednesday filed more than 40 felony charges against the suspect accused of killing 10 people at a Boulder supermarket last month, including the alleged use of a large-capacity charger banned by state lawmakers in response. to recent mass shootings.
The court document outlining the new charges lists 19 new victims, including 11 law enforcement officers, whom Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, is accused of attempting to kill during the attack. Some victims have more than one count of attempted first degree murder associated with them, specifying two different theories about how Alissa allegedly tried to kill them, either intentionally or through an “extreme disregard” of human life.
In 2013, Colorado lawmakers banned the sale of ammunition magazines containing more than 15 rounds in response to mass shootings the previous year at a Denver suburban movie theater and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Despite that, a KUSA-TV investigation found that some gun stores have been circumventing the law by selling disassembled parts of high-capacity chargers that buyers can assemble themselves.
Investigators have said that Alissa legally purchased the Ruger AR-556 pistol, which resembles an AR-15 rifle with a slightly shorter stock. He is charged with using it in the shooting six days after passing a background check.
Alissa’s defense has asked for time to evaluate what one of her attorneys called her “mental illness,” but has not offered details about the condition. He has not yet been asked to plead guilty and public defenders representing him are prohibited from speaking to the media about the case per office policy.