Sarah Moonshadow was buying strawberries and tea with her son at her local grocery store on March 22, 2021, when she heard the sound of gunshots outside the Table Mesa King Soopers.

“I was hearing gunfire and bodies dropping,” Moonshadow said.

Moonshadow and her son hid behind the cashier. While her son begged her to run down an aisle, Moonshadow said she was counting the number of shots, waiting for a reload.

“I kept telling him no,” Moonshadow said. “He just looked like my little baby again. He’s so small and innocent, and I just couldn’t let that be the last look I saw on his face.”

Moonshadow said she stood up and made eye contact with defendant Ahmad Alissa, only feet away, and watched as he raised his rifle at her.

“When I realized just how close we were to him I said, ‘Go! Go!’” Moonshadow said.

Moonshadow and her son were able to escape.Alissa, 25, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to 10 counts of first-degree murder, 38 counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, six counts of felony possession of a prohibited large capacity magazine, and 38 crime-of-violence sentence enhancers in connection with the shooting in March 2021.

He is currently in custody in lieu of a $100 million bond.

Moonshadow wasn’t the only eyewitness to speak on Friday. Elan Shakti was in the store on the day of the shooting buying flowers for a friend whose husband and son had died weeks earlier.

Shakti said she was by the west doors when the shooting began. She described in court on Friday that as she ran, she fell near the door and severely hurt herself.

“I just thought, ‘God I hope you’re ready for me, because I think this is it,’” Shakti said. “I could hear the people going by.”

Shakti said a man helped her get outside before running back indoors to help others.

While that was going on, Hadyn Steele and his then-roommate Casey Taylor were fleeing the store as well. They lived across the street and were stopping in for some frozen pizzas when the shots rang out.

Julie Keeton worked in the store with Rikki Olds, Teri Leiker and Denny Stong. She said she also knew Instacart shopper Lynn Murray, who was a frequent customer. All but Keeton were killed in the shooting.

When the first shots were fired outside, Keeton remembered Stong walking past her and saying, “It sounds like they’re fixing the leak in the roof.” Keeton testified that someone then responded, “Those are gunshots. There’s a shooter.”

James Graham was also near the cashiers buying ramen noodles for lunch. He testified Friday afternoon that he heard the shooter say, “f*** you,” as the shooting was happening.

Like Keeton, Graham fled the store through the back door. He said he lay in the snow, hiding, for about 40 minutes.

Following the shooting, Graham said he has lost 60 pounds and developed diabetes.

“I was devastated,” Graham said. “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, anxiety, depression, I had to go through therapy.”

After escaping, Keeton reached Leiker’s boyfriend, Clint, who has a developmental disability, she testified. She added that Clint was “hysterical” and kept saying he “saw her.” When asked who, Clint responded, “I saw Rikki. I saw her go down.”

Silence fell over the courtroom after Keeton’s testimony.

Earlier in the day Friday, Jason Hebrard, from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, showed video surveillance footage of Alissa entering his home with a white box on March 16, which Hebrard said he believed contained a gun.

Hebrard also showed the jury video surveillance from a separate home in the neighborhood that showed Alissa leaving his home with a gun storage bag and then leaving the neighborhood at about 1:53 p.m. on March 22, 2021.

More surveillance, from an Arvada water treatment plant, was shown Friday morning in which the jury could see the defendant’s car en route to the King Soopers on the day of the shooting.

Police detective Chris Pyler, from the Westminster Police Department, also testified. Pyler showed records he obtained from Alissa’s phone and car during the months leading up to the shooting.

Pyler presented maps showing Alissa’s devices in the same area as two gun stores where Alissa had made purchases — Westminster Arms and Eagle Nest Armory. Pyler also said Alissa’s devices were in the area of the Boulder King Soopers on the day of the shooting as well as briefly in the area on Feb. 15, 2021.

Before the afternoon break, Joel Hegarty from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was called to the stand.

Hegarty reviewed the documents relating to all the firearms and ammunition purchases by Alissa in the months prior to the shooting, including a Rugar AR 556 pistol, a Girson MC28-SA, a Rugar rifle, a Sarsilmaz SAR K2 and a Beretta 9 mm.

Hegarty explained that Alissa used the Rugar AR 556 pistol with an illegal shoulder stock during the shooting. The rifle was found in his home.

On Thursday, the jury heard from seven witnesses, some of whom were in the store when the shooting occurred. The witnesses described how they watched and heard people die, how they hid from the shooter or how they escaped the store.

Due to Alissa’s insanity plea, the trial is an insanity trial, meaning whether the defendant committed the shooting is not being debated, but his guilt and whether he was insane at the time of the offense are.

Police were called to the King Soopers at 3600 Table Mesa Drive at 2:40 p.m. March 22, 2021, for a report of an armed man who had shot a person in a vehicle in the store’s parking lot and was inside the store.

Eric Talley, a 51-year-old Boulder police officer, was the first to arrive. He was shot and killed. Police said Alissa fired at other responding officers before one of them shot Alissa in the leg.

Alissa later surrendered to police. Officers found weapons and tactical body armor at the scene, according to the affidavit.

In addition to Talley, Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Leiker, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65, were killed in the shooting.

This story will be updated.

How to follow the trial live

Those interested in watching the trial can view it via livestream at live.coloradojudicial.gov or watch in person. However, courtroom benches have been reserved for victims’ families, the defendant’s family and credentialed media.

Readers can also follow reporter Nicky Andrews on X at x.com/nickyandrewss for live updates and visit dailycamera.com for daily stories.

Resources

#BoulderStrong Resource Center, 2935 Baseline Road, will remain open and available to anyone seeking support in coping with psychological or emotional effects associated with the shooting.

The center will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center offers a multitude of resources including; AcuDetox, art therapy and dog therapy. During the trial movies will also be shown and snacks will be available to visitors.

The scheduling of certain resources and more information can be found at weareboulderstrong.org.