A survivor of the 2021 Colorado supermarket mass shooting testified in court on Thursday, providing chilling new details about the gunman’s actions during the attack. Sarah Chen, a pharmacist working at the store during the shooting, revealed that she heard the shooter, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, repeatedly say, “This is fun” as he carried out the massacre. Chen explained that while hiding with her coworkers behind a plexiglass barrier at the pharmacy counter, she listened carefully for any signs of danger. It was during this time that she distinctly heard Alissa scream the disturbing phrase at least three times.
Alissa, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, is facing 10 counts of first-degree murder, along with multiple other charges related to the shooting. His defense team argues that he was suffering from treatment-resistant schizophrenia at the time of the attack, experiencing hallucinations and delusions that made it impossible for him to distinguish between right and wrong. Despite this diagnosis, which was made after the shooting, prosecutors are pushing for accountability, emphasizing the devastation caused by the attack in the quiet college town of Boulder.
The ongoing trial has brought forth several emotional testimonies from survivors who recounted their terrifying experiences inside the supermarket that day. Another pharmacy worker, Maggie Montoya, who is also a professional runner, testified that she was hiding in a room next to the pharmacy during the shooting. While Montoya didn’t hear Alissa say “This is fun,” she did recall hearing him declare that he was naked when he surrendered to authorities.
Testimony in the trial began on September 5, and the proceedings are expected to continue through the end of the month. As the court hears more details of the attack, both the defense and prosecution are working to establish whether Alissa’s mental illness should absolve him of legal responsibility for the shooting that left 10 people dead and shook the Boulder community to its core.