Kamala Harris condemns Colorado shooting & lauds heroic officer, says 'absolutely tragic'

US Vice President Kamala Harris, on March 23, said that the Colorado mass shooting, which left 10 people dead, was “absolutely tragic”. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of Ambassador William Burns as the next director of CIA, Harris lauded the late policeman who was killed in the shooting spree. Earlier in the day, a 21-year-old man was charged with the murder of 10 people at a Colorado grocery store. 

The killer identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was later charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one charge of attempted murder, according to his arrest warrant reported by CNN. The mass shooting also led to the death of a 51-year-old Boulder police officer Eric Talley, who apparently was looking for a "less dangerous job" as quoted by CNN. Lauding Talley for his valiant act, the Harris said that he acted with "great courage and heroism".

The shooting comes in less than a week of another mass killing which resulted in eight fatalities in Atlanta. Both the acts have pointed out at increasing gun violence in the country. In the aftermath, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have called for a ban on assault weapons stressing that it was a bipartisan, "American" issue. 

Mass shooting in the US

The attack in Boulder, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) northwest of Denver and home to the University of Colorado, stunned a state that has seen several mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting. According to a data compiled by the Associated Press, March 22, midafternoon attack was the seventh mass killing this year in the US, following the March 16 shooting that left eight people dead at three Atlanta-area massage businesses. The shooting has now sent terrorized shoppers and workers scrambling for safety and left the state as well as the country stunned. 

(Image Credits: The Associated Press)