VOA News | Tuesday, April 23, 2023 
Trial opens for man charged with killing 10 people at Colorado supermarket 

Denver — Jury selection began Monday in the long-delayed trial of a man charged with murdering 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021, a case in which the suspect was ruled mentally unfit to face prosecution before pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. The outcome hinges on whether the defense can convince jurors that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 25, was so mentally ill at the time of the mass shooting that he failed to comprehend the difference between right and wrong and thus should not be held legally responsible for the killings. The basic facts of the case are not in dispute. Alissa stormed a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, about 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Denver, on March 22, 2021, armed with a legally purchased Ruger AR-556 pistol, which resembles an AR-15-style rifle. Police say he killed two people in the store’s parking lot before shooting eight others to death inside the supermarket. Among those killed was a police officer responding to the scene. The shooting spree ended when a police officer shot Alissa in the leg, leading the gunman, wearing only his underwear, to surrender. He has remained in custody since the day of the shooting. Alissa is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, in addition to dozens of counts of attempted murder, assault and weapons offenses stemming from the incident. A conviction would carry an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. There is no death penalty in Colorado…Read more