Ten people, including a police officer, were killed in a Monday afternoon shooting at a supermarket in the US city of Boulder, Colorado, police said.
The identities of the victims were not disclosed except that of the downed policeman, Eric Talley, 51, who “was the first to arrive” at the King Soopers supermarket where gunshots were reported in the early afternoon. .
“He was fatally shot,” said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold, praising the “heroic deed” of the officer.
“Boulder suffered a horrible and terrible mass murder today,” said county prosecutor Michael Dougherty.
A suspect, injured during the police intervention, was arrested, the prosecutor said. Mr. Dougherty promised “justice” to all the victims, “people who lived their lives, who did their shopping, and whose lives were tragically shattered by the shooter.”
Live footage from the massive police operation around the King Soopers supermarket showed one person, a white man only in sports shorts, being escorted by police out of the store. The man had his hands cuffed behind his back and appeared to be injured in the leg, with traces of blood.
The police did not identify the suspect and did not provide any details on his motives or on what brought him to the supermarket.
According to American media reports, the man was equipped with an AR-15 type assault rifle, a very popular weapon in the United States and which has often been used by perpetrators of mass killings in the past.
The investigation promises to be long and complicated and the findings and records at the scene of the shooting will still last several days.
President Joe Biden received a briefing on the shooting, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Through the roof
Police officers had gone there “just minutes” after receiving an alert concerning the presence of a gunman in the supermarket parking lot and “very quickly” entered the supermarket where he had taken refuge, explained more early Police Commander Kerry Yamaguchi.
In images whose authenticity has not been confirmed by the authorities, we see at least three bodies lying on the ground in and around the building, while gunshots ring out.
“AVOID THE ZONE,” Boulder police tweeted, adding that the situation remained “very volatile.”
Dozens of law enforcement personnel, including heavily armed intervention units, surrounded the supermarket about half an hour after the first shots.
They had armored vehicles that they positioned at the entrance of the store after trying to smash the storefront, according to images broadcast live by a witness.
A half-dozen police officers equipped with assault rifles were then hoisted onto the roof of the store using a fire engine that had deployed its large ladder.
Some customers who were hiding in the store said they were rescued by police who passed through the roof of the building.
Shootings of this type, in schools, shopping malls or places of worship, are a recurring evil in the United States and successive governments have been powerless to stem the increase in these killings.
In mid-February, President Joe Biden called on Congress to act “now” to limit the circulation of firearms in the country, three years after the high school massacre in Parkland (17 dead), Florida.
“This Senate must advance legislation to help stop the epidemic of violence by firearms, and it will,” assured Monday night on Twitter the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.