Good morning southern Colorado and here's what you need to know on your Tuesday, March 23.
If you'd like to read the full story, be sure to click on the story headline.
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10 dead, including police officer, in shooting at grocery store in Boulder
Today, we mourn the loss of 10 lives following a shooting at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder on Monday. Among the dead was Officer Eric Talley, who Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said was the first officer to arrive on the scene. No other victims were identified by law enforcement at a news conference as authorities work to notify families.
The shooting happened after 2:30 p.m. State law enforcement officials said when they arrived at the scene, a suspect opened fire on them. Video from the scene showed one man with a bloody leg being led away from the store in handcuffs and being loaded into an ambulance. Police later confirmed the man is the suspect and the accused gunman.
A witness in the store said they heard a loud bang, along with multiple gunshots as everyone began sprinting toward the back of the store. A mother said she was shopping with her adult son when it all started. She described seeing an older man on the ground who she wanted to help, but her son kept her moving, ‘No, we can’t help him. We’ve gotta go’” she explained.
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Procession honors fallen officer Eric Talley in Boulder King Soopers shooting
A procession was held Monday evening to honor a fallen Boulder police officer Eric Talley, 51, identified during an evening press conference as the officer killed in the shooting. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said Talley was one of the first officers to respond to a 911 call from the grocery store and encountered the suspect, who was armed with a high-powered rifle. Talley had been with the Boulder Police Department since 2010.
Talley was a father of seven and joined the force at the age of 40, according to a statement from Talley's father, Homer Talley.
“He took his job as a police officer very seriously. He had seven children. The youngest is 7 years old. He loved his kids and his family more than anything. He joined the police force when he was 40 years old. He was looking for a job to keep himself off of the front lines and was learning to be a drone operator. He didn’t want to put his family through something like this and he believed in Jesus Christ,” wrote Homer Talley.
Escorted by a procession of emergency vehicles, an ambulance carrying the body of Talley left the Table Mesa Road King Soopers around 8 p.m., making its way to a funeral home. Along the way, officers and first responders honored the fallen officer by saluting.
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Bill supporters seek to standardize shelter care for animals across Colorado
HB21-1160 passed out of the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Water Committee on Monday afternoon. The bill's supporters hope to set a minimum standard of care for animal shelters and rescues throughout Colorado.
The bill allows a shelter or rescue to "dispose" of an animal only through adoption, returning the pet to its original owner, or transferring it to another shelter or rescue. That's as long as the animal is not too injured or ill for a good life, and has not shown any behavior that could harm another animal or human. Representative Monica Duran is one of the sponsors of the bill, which she said will ensure animals have the most humane treatment possible in shelters.
However, opponents worry about the unintended consequences of the bill. The President of No Kill Colorado, Davyd Smith, said the current form of the bill has many loopholes. "It's a poorly crafted law, and it leaves the door open for a lot of interpretation," said Smith, right before he went into the House Committee to speak. CLICK HERE to read more about why No Kill Colorado opposes HB21-1160.
The bill must be voted on by Colorado's House of Representatives and Senate before becoming law.
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Stuck too high: El Paso County COVID-19 numbers flat for two months
Vaccination numbers are rising at a fast rate in Colorado, yet the decline in COVID-19 cases has slowed. It took 60 days to complete the first 100,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in El Paso County. For the next 100,000 it was just 30 days.
El Paso County experienced a rapid decrease in COVID-19 case numbers from December to February. It dropped the county’s color-coded risk designation from red to orange and now yellow.
Since mid-February numbers have basically been flat, hovering just above the 100 incidence rate over a seven-day average.
"Are we still at risk for a spike? Yes," said Dr. Johnson. Consider things like spring break and people traveling."Spring is coming; we've been doing this a year, we finally have really good news and I think the temptation is to just throw caution to the wind and say we're done, but we're not quite done."
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Get your latest First Alert 5 Weather Forecast
The weather is about to get a lot more active over our southern mountains, but not so much in the Pikes Peak Region down to Pueblo. Snow will begin to collect over the high county this morning and spread east to the Front Range and eastern mountains through the afternoon.
We'll see the heaviest snow from today through Wednesday in the San Juans and Sangre de Cristos. Travel over the mountains will become slow and difficult late today through Wednesday morning, especially out west of the San Luis Valley.
We won't see much snow in the Pikes Peak Region, and Pueblo looks quite dry from Tuesday through Wednesday. Raton Pass will see heavy snow from Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon.
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