Ten people including a police officer were killed Monday, March 22 in a shooting at a supermarket in the city of Boulder, in the US state of Colorado, and a suspect injured in the incident was arrested, have told the local authorities several hours after the incident.

Police said they had little immediate information about the shooting, the motive for which was not yet known, which occurred around 3 p.m. in the town 45 kilometers northwest of Denver, at the foot of the Rockies.

The identities of the victims were not disclosed except that of the downed policeman, Eric Talley, 51, who "was the first to arrive" at the King Soopers supermarket where gunshots were reported in the early afternoon. .

"He was fatally shot," said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold, praising the "heroic action" of the officer.

AR-15

"Boulder suffered a horrible and terrible mass murder today," said county prosecutor Michael Dougherty.

A suspect, injured during the police intervention, was arrested, the prosecutor said.

Michael Dougherty promised "justice" to all the victims, "people who lived their lives, who did their shopping, and whose lives were tragically shattered by the shooter."

Images broadcast earlier by local television stations showed a bearded man, shirtless and wearing shorts, being evacuated from the supermarket in handcuffs, before being transported by ambulance.

According to American media reports, the man was equipped with an AR-15 type assault rifle, a very popular weapon in the United States and which has often been used by perpetrators of mass killings in the past.

Fire arms

Shootings of this type, in schools, shopping malls or places of worship, are a recurring evil in the United States and successive governments have been powerless to stem the increase in these killings.

In mid-February, President Joe Biden called on Congress to act "now" to limit the circulation of firearms in the country, three years after the high school massacre in Parkland (17 dead), Florida.

"This Senate must push forward legislation to help stop the epidemic of gun violence, and it will," Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter Monday evening. 

With Reuters and AFP

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