Multiple killed in Boulder supermarket shooting; suspect in custody

On a Monday afternoon in Boulder, Colorado, gunfire erupted inside a King Soopers supermarket, leaving multiple people dead and a community in shock. A suspect was taken into custody and was receiving medical treatment, authorities said, though they offered few details about what had happened or how many had been killed. Boulder police Commander Kerry Yamaguchi stood before reporters and confirmed the basic facts: the shooting was over, there was no ongoing threat to the public, and investigators were still working to understand the motive. The exact death toll, he said, would not be released until families had been notified.

The supermarket sits about 25 miles northwest of Denver, in a college town home to the University of Colorado. When the shooting began, customers and employees were doing ordinary things—buying strawberries, working in the meat section, moving through aisles. Sarah Moonshadow and her son Nicolas Edwards had just finished their shopping when two shots rang out. She told her son to drop to the ground, and they ran. Once outside, they saw a body in the parking lot. "I knew we couldn't do anything for the guy," Edwards said. "We had to go." James Bentz was in the meat section when he heard what he first thought was a misfire, then a rapid series of pops. "I was then at the front of a stampede," he said. He jumped off a loading dock out back to escape, and younger shoppers helped older ones down after him.

Dean Schiller had just left the store when the gunshots started. He saw three people lying face down—two in the parking lot, one near the doorway. "I couldn't tell if they were breathing," he said. Video posted online showed one person on the floor inside the store and two more outside, with what sounded like gunshots audible at the beginning of the footage. Some windows at the front of the building were shattered.

Law enforcement arrived in force. SWAT teams converged on the location, and at least three helicopters landed on the roof. Officers massed outside the store, and at one point authorities announced over a loudspeaker that the building was surrounded and that the person inside needed to surrender. A shirtless man with blood running down his leg was escorted out in handcuffs, though authorities would not confirm whether he was the suspect. One person was transported to Foothills Hospital in Boulder.

Kevin Daly, who owns a restaurant a block away, saw police cars arriving and shoppers fleeing the supermarket. He opened his doors to several people to keep them warm while others boarded a bus provided by Boulder police and were taken away. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty called it "a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County," and said investigators had the death toll but were withholding it pending family notifications. Colorado Governor Jared Polis tweeted that his "heart is breaking" as the event unfolded. The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting.

The FBI announced it was assisting in the investigation at the request of local police. King Soopers, the supermarket chain, released a statement offering "thoughts, prayers and support" to employees, customers, and first responders, and said the store would remain closed during the police investigation. As evening fell, the motive remained unknown, and the community waited for answers about what had driven someone to open fire in a place where people had come simply to buy groceries.