DENVER – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday ordered flags in Colorado to be lowered to half-staff for 10 days, until April 1, to honor the 10 people killed in Monday’s shooting at a Boulder King Soopers.
“This loss is especially painful for the friends and family members left behind. As Governor, I offer my special condolences to all of those who suffered loss, but this is truly a loss for all of us, and we mourn the ten who died as a state and a nation,” Polis said in a statement.
“This has been a painful year, and we sit here once again surrounded by seemingly incomprehensible loss. We can never let ourselves become numb to this pain, because we simply can’t let this be accepted as anything close to a normal occurrence,” the governor added. “We know there will be many hard days in the weeks and months ahead, but today let us remember the ten men and women who are no longer with us.”
Polis, who has spent much of his life in Boulder, said at a news conference Tuesday morning that he had shopped at the store several times throughout his life.
"A simple run for milk and eggs, getting ready to shop, in a regular way... something we can all identify with led to a complete tragedy,” he said.
The governor’s order comes after President Joe Biden ordered all flags across the country be flown at half-staff until sunset on March 27 to honor the victims in Boulder.
The president said in a speech Tuesday he was “devastated” by the shooting, called Officer Eric Talley “the definition of an American hero,” and called for another federal ban on assault weapons – the last of which expired in 2004.
"We have to act," Biden said of possible gun control measures. "So, there’s not more of you (victims). There’s fewer of you as time goes on."
The 10 people killed on Monday in the shooting ranged in age from 20 to 65 years old and included two King Soopers employees, as well as Talley. Police identified the suspected shooter as a 21-year-old Arvada man who had bought a gun six days before the shooting, according to an affidavit.
Correction: This story has been edited to note that the flags will fly at half-staff until April 1, not starting April 1.