BOULDER, Colo. — President Joe Biden called Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver Wednesday to offer his condolences following Monday’s mass shooting of ten people at the King Soopers in Boulder.
Mayor Weaver tweeted that the president was saddened by the losses and offered any resources the city may need to begin to heal.
I just received a call from @POTUS extending his condolences and support to the Boulder community as we begin our healing. The President was clearly pained by our losses, and offered any resources we need. I thanked him sincerely on behalf of everyone in Boulder. @bouldercolorado
— Sam Weaver (@sampweaver) March 24, 2021
“President Biden sends his love and sympathy to everyone here. It is a relief to have a leader at the very top of our government that cares so much about the people that he governs and he serves,” Weaver said in a community conversation Wednesday afternoon.
Weaver also appeared on CNN Wednesday afternoon and talked about his discussion with Biden with anchor Pamela Brown.
“He started off by expressing his condolences and sympathies for the victims. He particularly called out Officer Talley for his heroism. He asked what he could do for Boulder. I told him, you know, as far as what we’re needing to take care of in the next few days and weeks, we’ve probably got that handled here,” Weaver said.
“And then, of course, the question was what can we do to make sure this never happens in another community and our country, and we explored that a little bit,” Weaver added. “The president expressed that he regretted that when the first federal assault weapons ban was passed in 1994 that there had to be a 10-year sunset to get that through. He further regretted the sunset occurred and the ban expired. And then we talked some about what steps could be taken at the federal level to make sure that things like this just don’t happen to other communities.”
Weaver said he would “absolutely welcome a visit” from Biden.
“It’s good to have our pain recognized and acknowledged and cared for, frankly, by the president,” Weaver said. “We have not talked about a visit. It was mentioned that was a possibility to our staff previously, but I don’t know of any plans to do so. But, of course, we would welcome it.”
A gunman opened fire at the Table Mesa Road grocery store Monday afternoon, killing ten people, including a Boulder police officer. The suspect was taken into custody and is due in court Thursday.
Biden said Tuesday he was devastated by the Boulder shooting and urged Congress to act immediately on gun control measures.
Biden said he "can't imagine how the families [of the victims] are feeling, who now have to struggle to go on and make sense of what happened."
He ordered in a proclamation that flags should be lowered at the White House, all public buildings and grounds, all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the federal government until sunset on Saturday. He also directed flags to be lowered at all U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities.
Boulder officials said they have received an outpouring of support from across the nation, but they are warning those wanting to help the victims to be careful of where your money is going.
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management released a list of reputable organizations that are accepting donations.
