By Aaron Miller-
There is sorrow and trauma after a mass killing at a supermarket in the U.S city of Colarado- the second to grip America in one week.
A strong sense of grief and trauma has gripped the city, particularly for those who heard the long exchange of gun fire which killed ten people. Mobile phones have been ringing almost none stop from all parts of America to anybody they know in Colarado, after such a tragic incident.
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Kayson Williams from Colarado told The Eye Of Media.Com: ‘everyone is shocked. Most people are receiving calls from friends and family from all over the country to check that calamity has not befallen those they know.
‘It is fine for most people, but not for those who have not been in contact with anybody close to them since the shooting. Anyone out of sight or reach to their family and friends, would be causing them serious panic.
Everybody is thinking like that could have been me, or somebody I love, it’s terrifying’
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An injured suspect was detained after the mass shooting a supermarket in Colarado the killing on Monday afternoon which left many in the vicinity terrified.
Officers were called to the scene following reports of a man walking with a riffle.
Ten people were killed in the gunfire, including an officer who had been with the force since 2010 , whose name was given as 51 year old Eric Talley- a father of seven. Talley was first on the scene and was shot by the gun man. He had been with the police force since 2010.
Injured man believed to be suspect led away by police Image: supplied
The supermarket attack comes less than a week after a mass shooting that left eight dead, including six Asian women, at three spas in Atlanta.
Most of the victims were shopping for their groceries at the time of the shooting.
Alarm began after Boulder police tweeted about 2:49 p.m after police tweeted that there was an Active Shooter at the King Soopers on Table Mesa, warning people to avoid the area.
Cops were engaged in a gunfight in which some witnesses said there were up to 50 shots exchanged. They continued to report that they were being fired at with multiple rounds through at least 3:21 p.m. local time.
Ambulances and multiple law enforcement agencies arrived at the store, which is part of a large shopping center with a two-story strip mall next door.
Two roommates who were buying pizza at the self-checkout watched the shooter come into the store.
“He just came in and started shooting” without saying a word, one of them told The Denver Post on condition of anonymity to avoid national media attention. His roommate said the gunman “let off a couple of shots, then was silent, and then he let off a couple more. He wasn’t spraying.”
Outside, law enforcement from all over the Front Range — Jefferson County, Erie, Boulder, Longmont — was quick to respond. The Denver Police Department sent about 30 people. They came in fire trucks, ambulances, armored vehicles, helicopters and regular police cars. They even used drones to respond to the shooting.
Some wore body armor and carried rifles. Some walked on top of the store, others inside, others manning vehicles that rammed the front of the building. Authorities over a loudspeaker said the building was surrounded and that “you need to surrender.” They said to come out with hands up and unarmed.
About an hour into the livestream, a bearded, balding man was taken out of the store by police in handcuffs, wearing no shirt and no shoes, just a pair of black elastic-waist shorts and his right leg bloodied. It wasn’t known as of Monday night if this was the shooter
Motive
The motive of the gun man remains unknown, but he was the only injured man from a shoot out who survived. It is the second mass shooting in America in just a week.
Officials referred to it a complex investigation which would take no less than 5 days to conclude.
“We had multiple people who were killed in this incident, and I’m sorry to have to report that one of them was a Boulder police officer,” Mr Yamaguchi told a news conference.
He added that the suspect was believed to be the only individual with injuries who survived the bloodshed.
Tragedy And Nightmare
Boulder County district attorney Michael Dougherty described the incident as a “tragedy and a nightmare”.
A witness told the Associated Press he heard gunshots and saw three people lying face down on the ground, adding that he “couldn’t tell if they were breathing”.
Gun Laws
The tragic killings may heighten the urgency for the U.S to seriously review gun laws and access to fire arms given the seriousness of the killing sprees that continue to ravage a country that for many good reasons boasts to be the greatest nation on earth.
Gun ownership and gun laws in America is an old debate that only ever goes round in circles. The existence of so many crazy people in a big country as dynamic and diverse as America is one of the reasons many Americans insist on the right to own guns.
The best and worst of all things come from America, keeping the latter in check is one of the challenges facing Biden’s administration, whose focus is currently on the roll out of the vaccine programme and keeping the spread of the coronavirus in check.
According to a 2007 survey, the US led the world in the number of civilian-owned firearms with 88.8 guns per 100 people, while second-place Yemen fell far behind at 54.8 guns per 100 people.
The research, compiled by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center, has repeatedly found a link between a higher number of guns and higher levels of gun violence.
The manufacturing of automatic weapons for civilian use are illegal in America. Only guns made before 1986 can be traded and owned, and require registration as part of the legality of ownership.
However, semiautomatic and non-automatic firearms are generally legal in most states.
Checks
Under the federal system, licensed dealers are required to run checks before they can sell someone a gun, typically by having the FBI check a person’s criminal record, mental health history, and other factors.
As a matter of national regret in the United States, most mass killings of this kind are carried out by people with mental health issues of a serious nature. The hard reality is that even for those unable to access guns legally, there are many who can borrow them from friends, or even purchase them illegally through criminal world.
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