Community members, elected officials and law enforcement officers joined family members of the Boulder King Soopers shooting victims Sunday afternoon for a Day of Remembrance event at the Museum of Boulder.
The crowd mingled in the museum lobby next to portraits of the ten victims and displays containing items from the makeshift memorial - including a baseball cap, a wreath of flowers and a painting of Boulder - that grew outside the grocery store following the shooting.
During the tearful event, family members told stories about their loved ones. Olivia Mackenzie, who lost her mother Lynn Murray in the shooting, talked about the lessons she’s learned over the past five years.
"So, I wrote 10 things I've gained from losing 10 people we love. Number one, incredible fearlessness," Mackenzie said.
Five years ago, on a dreary afternoon, a gunman shot and killed ten people at the Table Mesa King Soopers in south Boulder. Victims died in the parking lot and inside the store, most within the first minutes of the attack.
Law enforcement swarmed the area. The shooter was arrested on the scene; the incident lasted less than an hour.
Boulder police officer Eric Talley was among 10 people killed in the shooting. Other victims were Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Rikki Olds, Tralona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray and Jody Waters.
The shooter, who has schizophrenia, was sentenced to ten consecutive life sentences in 2024. His trial had been delayed multiple times due to competency concerns.
“It's important to stick together and remember the pain that we've all been through and the hurt that gun violence causes all of us across the nation,” Boulder resident 67-year-old Elizabeth Lott said at the Day of Remembrance event. “We've kind of relaxed a little – we shouldn't have to be on guard all the time – but I have seen the community be a little more aware that it can happen to us.”
Following the incident, Colorado lawmakers passed a package of gun control bills, focused on reducing gun violence through increased background checks, enabling local governments to pass their own restrictions and creating the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
The city of Boulder, in turn, passed several of its own measures in 2022.
Some are of these efforts are now tied up in legal battles initiated by pro-gun groups.
“Unfortunately, gun violence is endemic of our country,” Boulder City Council member Matt Benjamin said. “You'd think that a country as wealthy and powerful as us would have solved this by now. Other countries have figured it out. So I'm hopeful my kids will live to see the day where gun violence is not the epidemic it currently is.”
During the event, Boulder officials said they are in the planning process for a permanent monument to honor the King Soopers shooting victims.
“In the meantime, while we work toward that permanent memorial, this gathering will continue to serve as an opportunity for us to come together in strength, resilience and memory,” Boulder’s Assistant City Manager Pam Davis said.
Davis said city officials and victims’ family members will tour a potential memorial site later this month and that the city is finalizing a process to allow the public to donate to the project.
