The mother of the man accused of shooting and killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 saw her son in court for the first time since the day of the shooting at his trial this week.
Ahmad Alissa is facing murder charges for pulling up to a King Sooper grocery in Boulder in 2021 and shooting at shoppers before going inside to kill additional people. Ten customers lost their lives to a killer that witnesses say looked like he was “hunting’ shoppers.
Immigrant Khadija Ahidid, the alleged killer’s mother, came to the U.S. from Syria. Speaking through an interpreter in court, Ahidid said the last time she saw her son was the day he allegedly went on a killing spree. Alissa, her son, showed up for breakfast looking like a vagrant, she said, and she gave him $20 to get a haircut. By the end of the day, Alissa had allegedly gunned down ten innocent people.
Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the shooting, but there are indications he may have been becoming disconnected from reality years before the tragedy. His mother claimed that her son began acting oddly in 2019, claiming that he was being followed by FBI agents, and keeping himself away from the rest of the family. Ahidid said her son stopped bathing and taking care of himself, putting on a ton of weight after he contracted Covid.
There is no evidence that Alissa was being treated for any mental malady before the shooting, and the reports of his odd behavior came from his family only after the killing sprees. His defense lawyer claims that Alissa did things like putting tape over his laptop camera to avoid being spied on, and that Alissa’s relatives pondered whether an evil spirit had possessed him.
Everyone, including Alissa and his lawyers, concedes that he shot and killed 10 people. At issue is whether he is responsible for his actions. He is trying to use the insanity defense, which is widely misunderstood by the public. Even a person who could be described as “insane” in the everyday sense—such as having hallucinations or odd fantasies—can be convicted. The legal test for insanity in U.S. courts is whether the person knew right from wrong when committing the act.
In this case, the prosecution said that Alissa’s careful planning of the attack and his worry that he would be imprisoned indicates that he knew the difference between right and wrong even if he is mentally ill.
