03 Apr Iris Eytan Quoted by The Denver Gazette in Article Titled “The Boulder Shooting Suspect’s Attorneys Have Referenced Supposed Mental Illness, But Previous Assault Misdemeanor Probably Wouldn’t Have Caught It”
April 3, 2021
Denver, Colorado
When someone commits an apparently senseless act of violence like opening fire in a grocery store full of shoppers on a Monday afternoon, people search for answers about whether anyone missed warning signs and could have done anything to prevent the act.
A 2018 assault case in which the man charged in connection with last week’s mass shooting attack at a Boulder King Soopers, 21-year-old Ahmad Alissa, beat a fellow student at Arvada West High School might in hindsight look like missed foreshadowing. Alissa pled guilty to third-degree assault in a 2017 incident, and he received a sentence of one year of probation and 48 hours of community service.
At the time, Alissa said the victim had called him racial slurs and bullied Alissa to his breaking point, while the victim has maintained the attack was unprovoked. Attorneys with experience in criminal defense said someone living with a mental illness doesn’t necessarily exhibit obvious signs the average person may think of when they picture serious mental illness, such as statements and behavior suggesting someone is detached from reality.
You may read the full article here.