Boulder supermarket shooting suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa narrowly avoided jail in 2018 on a misdemeanor assault charge in which a judge told him: “The world is full of people who do and say things that get us all angry, and you can’t always control that. But what you can control is how you respond.”
That’s according to the transcript obtained by the Denver Gazette of Alissa’s April 11, 2018, sentencing hearing in Jefferson County Court. Judge Harold Sargent sentenced Alissa to a year probation, 48 hours of community service, anger management classes and restitution to victim Alex Kimose.
Alissa, 22, faces more than 50 charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the March 22 massacre of 10 people at a Boulder King Soopers, including a Boulder police officer. He is being held without bail at an undisclosed location after he was moved from the Boulder County Jail for security reasons.
At the 2018 sentencing, Judge Sargent keyed on the fact Alissa had no prior convictions. Neither the victim, nor his family, attended the hearing or sent sentencing recommendations. Alissa represented himself and pleaded guilty to the third-degree assault charge. He asked the judge for probation.
Then Deputy District Attorney Chelsea Kancilia asked the judge for jail time based on the severity of Kimose’s injuries.
“The injuries to the victim were really bad,” Kincilia said. “And it looks like the defendant violently attacked the victim while the victim was sitting in a classroom. And multiple witnesses said the victim did nothing wrong, no provocation. And the photos were really bad. The victim is bleeding out his eyes, mouth, and he has a swelling and busted lip.”
Alissa told the judge Kimose “kept saying racial slurs to me and kept bullying me since junior year, and I just couldn’t take it anymore, so I just snapped and got in a fight with him.”
It didn’t appear to be a fight, according to multiple witnesses.
The assault happened Nov. 27, 2017, at Arvada West High school. Several witnesses told Arvada police Alissa, with fists clenched and a “look of pure anger,” cold-cocked Kimose by punching him in the face, according to the officer’s report. When Kimose fell, Alissa continued to pummel him by punching him in the face several more times, the report states.
Witnesses told police there were no words exchanged or confrontation leading up to the assault. The victim didn’t fight back and yelled “what the hell” after the attack. Alissa and Kimose had been friends, several students told police.
The Kimose family has declined to speak publicly about the assault, but their attorney released a statement refuting Alissa’s claim about bullying.
“While the community searches for answers to why and how (the Boulder supermarket shooting happened), the family of Alex Kimose, the victim of an assault by Alissa in 2017, wishes to clear the record. As corroborated by the police investigation and independent investigation consisting of over 30 interviews from witnesses regarding the Assault for which Alissa was convicted, Alex Kimose never bullied Alissa or used any racial slur. The attack was unprovoked.”
School officials suspended Alissa for two weeks.
Alissa told the judge he was in four AP (advanced placement) classes, with four AP tests coming in May 2018 before his eventual graduation.
“I’m about to graduate in a month and a half; I’m still in high school. My high school record is clean,” Alissa said.
The judge seemed to feel his hands were tied with no prior convictions or history of violence.
“While I understand why someone who is hit like that might ask for a jail sentence, and it might – it might be deserved, I don’t know what led up to this assault,” Sargent said. “What’s curious to me is that Mr. Alissa has absolutely no history.”
He added as part of the probation sentence “treatment or counseling to address how you respond to anger.”
“Looking at the photographs, this young man had some pretty significant injuries. Whatever he said, I don’t think he deserved that.”
Alissa successfully completed his probation and was able to legally buy the military-style firearm with high-capacity clip allegedly used in the supermarket shooting.
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