Boulder Police Respond to ‘Active Shooter’ Situation at Supermarket

BOULDER, Colorado—A gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday afternoon, killing “multiple” people, including a police officer, and sending shoppers fleeing for their lives, authorities said.

“He shot right at us. I didn’t look. I just ran,” Sarah Moonshadow, a 42-year-old south Boulder resident, told The Daily Beast on Monday, as her son stood next to her holding the strawberries they’d purchased just before the gunfire began.

At a press conference Monday evening, police declined to say how many people died in the shooting. Multiple reports have said at least six people were killed by the gunman, who is in police custody and being treated for his injuries. One of those killed was a Boulder police officer, said Boulder Police Department Commander Kerry Yamaguchi.

“There was loss of life. There were multiple people who were killed in this incident. I’m sorry to have to report that one of them was a Boulder police officer,” Yamaguchi said.

Reports of a shooting at the King Soopers grocery store on Table Mesa Drive came in just before 3 p.m. local time. Boulder Community Health confirmed that at least one person was brought to its emergency room in connection with the violence.

A live feed from the grocery store appeared to show at least three motionless bodies at the scene, two in the parking lot and another just inside the market. The live-streamer said he heard gunshots from inside the store as he took cover in the parking lot.

At around 3:30 p.m., a shirtless and barefoot man in handcuffs was escorted out of the supermarket by two officers and taken to an ambulance. He appeared to have blood on his hands and legs. Another man was escorted out of the store with his hands in the air and was not handcuffed.

Witnesses described a scene of terror inside the market, as customers and workers ran for cover after hearing at least three loud bangs.

“Like my fellow Coloradans, I am closely watching unfolding events at King Soopers in Boulder. My prayers are with our fellow Coloradans in this time of sadness and grief as we learn more about the extent of the tragedy,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement on Twitter.

Videos of the scene showed officers from various agencies, including the Jefferson County SWAT team, swarming the store about 30 minutes outside downtown Boulder. Several medical helicopters were also spotted landing at a nearby high school, CBS Denver reported.

In the aftermath of the gunfire, people were escorted across the parking lot, as authorities continued to issue a warning over a loudspeaker.

“The entire building is surrounded. You need to surrender. Come out with your hands up, unarmed,” they said.

Anna Haynes, 21, told The Daily Beast that she was looking out her window when she saw a man shoot someone on a ramp into the grocery store. She said she froze before telling her roommate.

“We just stared and we’ve been staring ever since,” Haynes said from her porch. “I saw it but I didn’t believe it.”

Mark Naugton, 53, said he, too, watched the gunman shoot someone in the middle of the parking lot while looking out his window.

“I was a terrified he might be coming across the street this way,” he said, adding that he’d just returned home from the store.

Daniel Douglas, who was inside the supermarket when the incident began, told KDVR that he was waiting on his pizza when “we started hearing gunshots.”

“It sounded like someone was breaking the glass at first,” Douglas said. “We started screaming and hit the ground.”

One witness told The Denver Post the suspect “didn’t say shit” before he began shooting. “He just came in and started shooting,” the witness said. Another said the gunman “let off a couple of shots, then was silent, and then he let off a couple more. He wasn’t spraying.”

One local resident told CBS Denver that his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren were in the King Sooper’s pharmacy to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot when the shooter “shot the woman in front of them.” The man said his family hid in a coat closet for about an hour before they were able to escape.

Mason Alexander, a resident artist at Auspicious Tattoo, located a street over from King Soopers, told The Daily Beast that he was having “a regular day [when] we heard what sounded like gunshots.”

“So we went outside to investigate and a bunch of police units started rolling up, we saw multiple units of officers go by, a SWAT truck, I saw a couple of officers escorting a guy who looked like he got shot in the leg—I don’t know if it was the shooter or not,” he said. “We’re all safe in here, we’re locked inside the studio. Nobody’s injured, but we’re all a little shook up for sure.”

Citing a law enforcement source, ABC News said Monday that officers were responding to reports that an individual had been shot in the parking lot area. When they arrived, the suspect opened fire on the officers, the outlet stated, adding that while there are reports of injuries, details are currently unavailable.

Ryan Borowski, who was buying soda and some chips when the gunman stormed the store, said in an emotional interview with CNN that he realized what was happening after hearing three loud bangs. He ultimately escaped with other customers out of the back of the building.

“Boulder feels like a bubble, and that bubble burst,” Borowski told CNN, his eyes tearing up. “It feels like nowhere is safe.”

The incident comes at the heels of a mass shooting in Atlanta, where a 21-year-old white man killed eight people, including six Asian women, at three massage parlors.

Bob Sargent, a 49-year-old South Boulder resident, told The Daily Beast he was planning to go shopping at the store Monday to buy produce for his catering company when he heard about the shooting.

While he said it’s awful to witness such violence at a store he has frequented for more than 20 years, he added, “Given the current state of affairs, I’m not that shocked.”