Teri Lee Leiker, a 51-year-old woman, found a second home at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder, Colorado. For 31 years, it was her first and only job, a place where her joyful personality and big smile were well-known to customers and colleagues. She was a dedicated employee who loved her work, her coworkers, and the community she served. In recent years, that love extended to her boyfriend, Clint, a fellow employee. They had been friends for a long time before their relationship blossomed, and they were making plans for a future together.
On the afternoon of March 22, 2021, the familiar aisles of the grocery store turned into a scene of terror. A gunman, later identified as 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, entered the store and opened fire. The attack was sudden and brutal, sending shoppers and employees scrambling for their lives. In the chaos, ten people were killed, including Teri Leiker, who died in the place that had been a significant and happy part of her life for over three decades.
Police responded to the scene quickly and engaged in a shootout with the gunman. The suspect, Alissa, was shot in the leg and taken into custody at the supermarket. Investigators found he used a Ruger AR-556 pistol in the attack. He was charged with ten counts of first-degree murder and dozens of counts of attempted murder. The legal proceedings that followed were prolonged due to questions about his mental state. After being found incompetent to stand trial on two separate occasions, he was eventually restored to competency.
In September 2024, a jury rejected his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was found guilty on all 55 felony counts against him. The judge handed down ten consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders, in addition to more than a thousand years for the other offenses, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life in prison for the devastating attack that cut short the lives of ten innocent people, including a woman who had simply gone to the job she loved.
