Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the suspect accused of killing ten people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, was previously known to the FBI, the New York Times reported.
Alissa’s identity was known to federal officials because he had connections to another individual that was under investigation by the FBI, according to the New York Times. Law enforcement officials are still trying to determine the motivation for this mass shooting.
Alissa was taken into custody on Monday and charged with ten counts of first-degree murder, according to the Denver Post. If convicted, Alissa will face life imprisonment without parole according to Colorado law, the Post reported. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Responds To Boulder Shooting)
This is the booking photo of the #BoulderShooting suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa pic.twitter.com/mAUVq9WBfx
— Boulder Police Dept. (@boulderpolice) March 23, 2021
“Flags had barely been raised back to full mast after the tragic shooting in Atlanta that claimed eight lives, and now a tragedy here, close to home, at a grocery store that could be any of our neighborhood grocery stores,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said.
Alissa, 21, was a resident of Arvada, Colorado, the Denver Post reported. He graduated Arvada West High School in 2018 where he was a member of the school’s wrestling team his last two years, the Post reported.
During his senior year in 2018, Alissa was convicted of misdemeanor assault against another student at the high school, according to the Times. Alissa told authorities his actions were in response to insults and ethnic jeers, the Times said.
Former classmates recall Alissa as paranoid, irritable, and violent, according to the Post. Ali Aliwi Alissa, the suspect’s brother, described him as mentally ill, antisocial, and paranoid who often claimed he was “being chased, someone is behind him, someone is looking for him,” according to the Daily Beast.