BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR/AP) — Ten people were killed at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder Monday, they range in age from 20 years old to 65. Below is what we know about each of the victims, this story will continue to be updated as we learn more.
Denny Stong – 20
Denny was an employee at King Soopers and a graduate from Fairview High School. His friends say he was an active member of the Boulder Aeromodeling Society and loved flying model planes.
Neven Stanisic – 23
Neven was working at the King Soopers as an employee of a different company, according to the reverend at his church. The reverend says Stanisic went to Alameda High School, and leaves behind his parents and a younger sister.
Rikki Olds – 25
Rikki was an employee at King Soopers. “She was a giver to others, and she gave herself to her career. She aspired to work up the ranks of King Soopers, and she strived to be the best manager she could be to her work family,” her uncle, Robert Olds said in a press release.
“She was 25 years old, just kind of starting life, bubbly and energetic and charismatic,” Olds said. He added that the family had heard from one of her friends that she had been trying to lock the store doors after the shooting began in the parking lot. “We are devastated,” Olds said.
Her grandmother choked up on the phone as she described the young woman she played a large role in raising. “She was just a very kind and loving, bubbly person who lit up the room when she walked in,” said Jeanette Olds, 71, of Lafayette, Colorado.
Tralona Bartkowiak – 49
Tralona, who went by Lonna, started a store called UMBA in Boulder. The store is located in the heart of Boulder on Broadway.
Suzanne Fountain – 59
A Medicare agent, Fountain helped people sign up for the federal health insurance program for older adults and get supplemental coverage, said Hilarie Kavanagh of Medicare Licensed Agents in Boulder, where Fountain worked for the past two years.
Fountain also devoted time to local theater, winning praise for her acting from both reviewers and those who worked with her.
A Boulder Daily Camera review said her 2002 performance as a nurse in “Wit,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a woman dealing with cancer, brought “a simple but crucial compassion to the play.”
Teri Leiker – 51
Teri was an employee at King Soopers where she’d worked for 31 years. She was a part of the CU Boulder Best Buddies program.
Eric Talley – 51
Talley was a Boulder police officer who died in the line of duty. He was the first officer to arrive at the scene of the shooting at King Soopers
He had been with the department since 2010 and was one of the first officers at the scene and Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold called his actions “heroic.”
Talley was “by all accounts, one of the outstanding officers” in the department, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.
Talley’s father said his son — who had seven children, ages 7 to 20 — was a devoted father who “knew the Lord.”
“When everyone else in the parking lot was running away, he ran toward it,” Shay Talley said.
Donations can be made through the Boulder County Fallen Officer Fund.
Kevin Mahoney – 61
He “represents all things Love,” his daughter Erika Mahoney said in a poignant tweet that featured a wedding photo and drew wide attention on social media.
“I’m so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer,” added Mahoney, who is the news director at a California public radio station.
She also posted that she’s pregnant and knows her father “wants me to be strong for his granddaughter.”
Lynn Murray – 62
Murray was shopping at King Soopers, where a friend’s daughter had seen her. Word made it to her husband, John Mackenzie, who drove to the store and started texting his wife.
After getting no answer in about five minutes, “I just fell over in my chair,” he said, choking up.
Murray had a long career taking photos for magazines including Cosmopolitan and Vogue, Mackenzie said.
“She charmed the pants off me” when they met at a photography studio in New York City years ago, he said. Computer backgammon games soon evolved into a relationship and eventually, two children.
“She’s the kindest person I ever knew, hands down. She had an aura about her that was the coolest freakin’ thing you’d ever want to know. She was just a cool chick,” Mackenzie said. “She had it all together — she really did.”
He said he spent hours consoling their children before he “lost it” Tuesday morning. Mackenzie offered a message:
“Don’t live in fear. My wife, none of the victims, would ever want you to live in fear. They’d want you to be bolder and live bolder. That’s what this place is about.”
Jody Waters – 65
According to her Instagram account, she was a mom to two daughters, a grandmother to one grandbaby and had a rescue pet. She was a hiker and creative entrepreneur.
Jody’s family released a statement saying in part, “It has been comforting and heartwarming to hear the impact that our mom had on so many people throughout her life. But it’s not surprising; she was extremely compassionate, humble, empathetic, and a truly selfless person.”
Read the full statement from Jody Waters’ family.
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