The Colorado supermarket shooter was sane at the time of the attack, state experts say

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — State experts have determined that the man charged with shooting and killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 suffered from untreated mental illness but was legally sane at the time of the attack, attorneys said on Tuesday.

The results of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa’s health assessment, conducted at the state psychiatric hospital, are not public but were discussed during a court hearing as Alissa, dressed in a prison uniform and shackled at the wrists, and relatives of some of those killed listened.

According to the defense, the experts concluded that the attack would not have occurred without Alissa’s untreated mental illness, which attorney Sam Dunn said was schizophrenia with “auditory hallucinations.” He also said the assessors were “less confident” in their reasonable conclusion than in other cases, but did not explain why.

The prosecutors themselves did not provide any information about the experts’ findings during the hearing. District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who said he limited himself to commenting on what was released about the assessment, declined to comment on Dunn’s description of the assessment’s findings.

“I look forward to the trial, and these issues will be fully addressed at trial,” Dougherty said after the hearing.

Alissa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the March 22, 2021, shooting at a King Soopers store in the college town of Boulder. The plea deal means his lawyers claim he did not understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of the shooting and therefore should not be convicted of a crime.

Investigators say he researched how to carry out a mass shooting before launching his own attack and targeting moving people, killing most of the 10 victims in just over a minute with a gun with a high-capacity magazine.

Alissa’s mental health was raised as an issue by his lawyers in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and the question of whether he was mentally competent to stand trial – that is, able to understand court proceedings and assist his lawyers in his defense – resulted in the proceedings being suspended for approximately two years. After being forcefully medicated and then found mentally competent, Alissa was pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in November.

On Tuesday, Judge Ingrid Bakke granted the defense’s request to have Alissa’s mental health at the time of the shooting assessed a second time by her own expert, but rejected her proposal to delay the trial until March 2025 to give them time for that trial admit. Instead, she only delayed the trial by about a month and scheduled it for September 2 after hearing strong objections from relatives of the victims and letters submitted in the court.

As Alissa sat nearby with his lawyers, Erika Mahoney, whose father Kevin Mahoney was killed in the shooting, urged Bakke to allow the families to go into the fall with the trial behind them so that they can have Christmas with this chapter closed and could celebrate Hanukkah.

During a lengthy discussion between the attorneys and Bakke, Erika Mahoney wasn’t hopeful, but she was relieved when the judge postponed the trial for just a month.

“It’s funny the things you become grateful for,” she said after the hearing, “but I’m grateful to know it’s moving forward.”