Police Officer Eric H. Talley

Officer: Boulder Police Department, Police Officer Eric Talley

Date: 3/22/2021                      Location: Boulder, CO          FACTORS (1,2,4,7,15,19)

Perpetrator(s) Involved: Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa

Criminal Activity History/Involved: Yes, Alissa was found guilty of assault upon a fellow high school classmate in 2017./Yes, Alissa was in the middle of a shooting spree.

Mental Illness: Yes, Alissa’s family described him as “mentally ill” and suffering from paranoia, which his classmates echoed, calling him “paranoid” and “scary to be around.”

Substance Abuse History/Involved: Unknown/None stated.

Race/Sex/Age: Middle Eastern/Male/21

What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At approximately 2:33 p.m. on March 22, 2021, Police Officers responded to a 911 call of an active shooter at King Soopers supermarket. The call indicated the armed gunman may have body-armor on and there were already multiple casualties. Officer Talley was the “was first to arrive on the scene and entered the store.”

Actions taken by subject toward police: Alissa fatally shot Officer Talley with his Ruger AR-15 rifle within seconds of the officer’s entry into the store.

Reactions by the police: Other officers at the scene returned fire at Alissa striking him once in the leg, at which time he dropped his weapon and peacefully surrendered.

How murdered? Officer Talley was fatally shot almost immediately upon entering an active shooter situation.

What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? An active shooter is extremely dangerous requiring immediate action by the first responding officers to minimize civilian casualties, so Talley and his fellow officers acted swiftly and bravely. If the officers were assigned shields perhaps using them could have helped, but most patrol officers do not carry shields.

Would the officer have been justified to use deadly force before being murdered? Officer Talley voluntarily entered the kill zone of that store to engage the shooter, he never had the chance to use deadly force until it was too late.

Outcome for the cop-killer: Alissa was treated at the hospital for his gunshot wound and has been charged with ten counts of murder in the first degree, 13 counts of attempted murder and “47 crime of violence sentence enhancers.”

Miscellaneous: Though no motive of terrorism has been reported, the NY Times reported Alissa “was known to the FBI because of his alleged connection to a different person whom the bureau was investigating.”