Suspect in Mass Killing at Colorado Grocery Store Is Mentally Incompetent, Judge Says

U.S.|Suspect successful Mass Killing astatine Colorado Grocery Store Is Mentally Incompetent, Judge Says

A justice connected Friday recovered that the antheral charged with fatally shooting 10 radical astatine a market store successful Boulder, Colo., successful March is mentally incompetent to basal proceedings and has ordered that helium beryllium treated astatine a authorities hospital, prosecutors said.

Over the past 3 months, 4 doctors person concluded that the defendant, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, is incompetent to basal trial, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office said successful a statement.

“Given that each the doctors are successful agreement, holding a proceeding connected the defendant’s competency is unnecessary and would not beryllium successful the involvement of justness oregon judicial efficiency,” the territory attorney’s bureau said. “Therefore, we did not petition an further proceeding and requested that the suspect beryllium transferred to the State Hospital successful Pueblo, Colo., successful bid to reconstruct his competency arsenic soon arsenic imaginable truthful that we whitethorn proceed guardant with the case.”

Mr. Alissa was equipped with a military-style semiautomatic firearm and a pistol erstwhile helium walked into a King Soopers store connected March 22 and opened fire, according to the authorities. Ten radical were killed, arsenic shoppers and employees ran for cover. Mr. Alissa, who lived successful Arvada, Colo., a adjacent suburb, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, which successful Colorado carries a punishment of beingness imprisonment without parole.

At Mr. Alissa’s first tribunal appearance successful March, Kathryn Herold, a nationalist defender who was among those assigned to correspond him, raised the anticipation that helium had a intelligence unwellness erstwhile she asked the justice to postpone the adjacent tribunal date.

“We cannot bash thing until we are capable to afloat measure Mr. Alissa’s intelligence illness,” Ms. Herold said astatine the hearing.

Ms. Herold did not instantly respond to a connection connected Friday night.

According to court records, 2 doctors who evaluated Mr. Alissa concluded that his “superficial responses” to hypothetical ineligible situations indicated a “passive attack to his defense” and “potential overreliance connected his attorneys.”

On Friday, Judge Ingrid S. Bakke of the 20th Judicial District of Colorado ordered the Colorado Department of Human Services to supply updates connected Mr. Alissa each 30 days, according to the territory attorney’s office. She besides scheduled a proceeding connected March 15, 2022, to reappraisal his case, prosecutors said.