DENVER — Ten people, including a police officer, were killed Monday when a gunman opened fire in a supermarket in the Colorado college city of Boulder, in one of several mass shootings in the US over the last week.
A suspect is in custody, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said, but authorities did not share any information on his identity, the type of weapon used or any possible motive.
"I promise ... we will secure justice and do everything we must do to get justice in this case," Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.
The massacre at the King Soopers store in Boulder comes less than a week after shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area left eight people dead. In the last week alone, the United States has had at least seven shootings in which at least four people were injured or killed.
Witnesses have described scenes of terror and panic in Boulder, home to the University of Colorado's main campus nestled by the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver.
A shooter had gunned down at least one person in the parking lot before going inside, according to Anna Haynes, a college student who was looking from her apartment window across the street.
Haynes heard what turned out to be gunshots, and then looked outside and "saw a body in the middle of the parking lot. "
"I also saw the gunman himself holding a semiautomatic rifle," Haynes, editor-in-chief of the University of Colorado's CU Independent.
"On his way to the entrance, had turned around and was shooting rapid-fire at one particular target. ... And then he turned around, he entered the building through the handicap entrance.
"And a few seconds later, I saw people running out of the building, I heard screaming, I heard people leaving in their cars, and it just evolved into chaos within just a couple of minutes."
Ryan Borowski said he was grabbing a bag of chips and a soda when he heard the first shot and saw a terrified woman running toward him. By the third shot, he was running with her toward the back of the store.
They and others gathered with employees in the back.
"I saw a lot of very wide eyes. ... The employees in the back of the house didn't know what was going on, so we told them that there was a shooter, and they told us where the exit was," he told CNN Tuesday.
The slain officer, 51-year-old Eric Talley, was one of the first to respond to the scene, according to Herold. Talley had joined the Boulder police force in 2010, she said.
"He was, by all accounts, one of the outstanding officers of the Boulder Police Department, and his life was cut far too short," Dougherty said.
Officials did not disclose the identity of any of the other victims, saying they needed to first notify family members.
CNN affiliate KMGH's helicopter recorded police leading several people away from the store — including a shirtless man being taken from the supermarket.
The man had what appeared to be blood on his arm and right leg and his hands appeared to be cuffed behind him as two officers escorted him away. The man was taken away in an ambulance.
It was unclear whether the man was involved in the shooting.
Boulder police tweeted about 2:49 p.m. (4:49 p.m. ET) that there was an "Active Shooter at the King Soopers on Table Mesa. AVOID THE AREA."
In scanner traffic, officers radioed that they were in a gunfight. 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. "He's armed with a rifle, our officers shot back and returned fire — we do not know where he is in the store," an officer said, according to a transcript of the audio. — Courtesy CNN
