Boulder Police used slain officer’s handcuffs to formally place shooting suspect into custody
Boulder Police used the handcuffs belonging to the officer killed in Monday’s mass shooting to formally place the shooting suspect into custody, police said in a tweet Thursday.
“This week several Boulder Police officers & others responded to a local hospital to formally place Monday’s shooting suspect into custody,” police said in the tweet. “As they did, officers informed him the handcuffs used that day were those of Officer Eric Talley. The suspect was then taken to jail.”
Talley was one of the 10 people killed when police say Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa opened fire in a King Soopers store Monday afternoon.
“It was our distinct honor to use Officer Talley’s handcuffs to formally process him into the jail,” police said. “Though this was a small gesture, we hope it is the start of the healing process that so many of us need at this time.”
Police also posted a photo of the handcuffs in the tweet.
Talley, a 51-year-old father of seven, was the first Boulder Police officer to arrive at the King Soopers store when the shooting began. Police Chief Maris Herold praised his bravery for going inside knowing the dangers.
“I have to tell you the heroic action of this officer when he responded to the scene,” the police chief said. “He didn’t have to go into policing, but he felt a higher calling.”
She said Talley was “willing to die to protect others” and embodied “everything policing deserves and needs.”
Alissa, 21, is accused of killing 10 people at random using an AR-15-style pistol. When he was arrested at the scene of the shooting, he was first taken to the hospital because he was shot in the leg. He was booked into Boulder County jail the next day.
The suspect appeared in court Thursday as his defense attorney asked a judge to delay the next hearing because the defense needs to assess what she called her client’s mental illness. A prosecutor also told the judge he anticipates filing more charges in the case within weeks.
Alissa has been charged with 10 counts of murder in the first degree and one charge of attempted murder, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.
