Boulder shooting: 10 dead including police officer after gun attack in Colorado supermarket
Ten people including a police officer were killed by a gunman at a US supermarket on Monday in the latest mass shooting in the western state of Colorado, police said.
The bloodied suspect was injured and in custody, Boulder police commander Kerry Yamaguchi told reporters, following the incident at the King Soopers store.
"We have multiple people who were killed in this incident. And I am sorry to have to report that one of them was a Boulder police officer," said Ms Yamaguchi.
Police confirmed that the suspect, who was arrested at the scene by officers, was injured in the incident.
Police gave few immediate details of the latest shooting and no known motive for the violence.
Sarah Moonshadow, 42, a customer and Boulder resident who was in the store with her son, Nicholas, recounted scenes of pandemonium as gunfire rang out from inside the store.
"We were at the checkout, and shots just started going off," Moonshadow told Reuters. "And I said, 'Nicholas get down.' And Nicholas ducked. And we just started listening and there, just repetitive shots ... and I just said, 'Nicholas, run.'"
Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold, her voice choking with emotion, said 10 people died in the attack. Among them was 51-year-old policeman Eric Talley, an 11-year veteran of the Boulder police force. He was the father of seven children, according to his father.
Colorado governor Jared Polis and Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver each referred to the incident as a "tragedy" in statements on Twitter.
"Words can do no justice to the tragedy that has unfolded this afternoon," Mr Weaver said.
"Our community will soon grieve our losses, and begin our healing. Our brave police officers and first responders have the gratitude of our entire city."
Officers were reportedly shot at as they responded to a report of a person hit with gunfire in the car park outside the store, a law enforcement source told ABC News.
Video footage from the scene broadcast earlier by television stations showed a shirtless, bearded man in boxer shorts being led away from the store in handcuffs, before he was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. The man in custody appeared to have a bloody leg and was limping.
Eyewitnesses inside the store at the time of the shooting said they heard multiple gunshots before fleeing through a back entrance.
"I just nearly got killed for getting a soda and a bag of chips," Ryan Borowski, who was in the store when he heard at least eight gunshots and escaped, told CNN.
"It felt amazing that everybody was helping each other out and that our instincts were on the same page and we ran... I don't know why other people didn't, and I'm sorry that they froze. I wish that this just didn't happen."
Mr Polis said he was still "closely watching unfolding events".
"My prayers are with our fellow Coloradans in this time of sadness and grief as we learn more about the extent of the tragedy," he wrote.
Armoured vehicles, at least six ambulances and dozens of personnel including FBI agents and at least one SWAT team were deployed to the scene.
Unverified early images appeared to show at least three wounded people lying prone on the ground both inside and immediately outside the store, as multiple gunshots rang out.
Later, shoppers who had been led safely out of the store sat wrapped in blankets, talking to emergency workers.
The city of Boulder is located around 30 miles (50 kilometres) northwest of the state capital Denver, in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Colorado has been the scene of some of the most shocking mass shootings in modern U.S. history.
In 2012, a young man dressed in tactical gear burst into a movie theatre in the Denver suburb of Aurora during a midnight screening and sprayed the audience with gunfire, killing 12 and wounding 70.
In 1999, a pair of students went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, murdering 12 classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives.
