Among the ten people fatally shot during the mass shooting at King Soopers grocery store was police officer Eric Talley, a father of 7 children.
According to authorities, Talley was the last person killed after he led other officers and engaged in gunfire with the gunman, PEOPLE reported.
On Friday, Boulder police said they had received “comments from some in our community who questioned the response time of our officers.”
“We think it’s important to share that Officer Talley led a contact team of officers into the store within 30 seconds of arriving on scene,” a tweet posted by the department stated.
“The suspect then shot at officers, killing officer Talley and firing on officers until he was taken into custody. No other individuals were shot or killed after these brave officers engaged the suspect,” the department said in a separate statement.
The shooting took place on March 22. Police responded to calls of an active shooter at the grocery store around 2:30 pm. Local police later confirmed ten people died as a result of the shooting.
During a press release, police confirmed that officer Talley was among those ten people killed. He had been with the department since 2010, Police Chief Maris Herold stated while also calling his actions “heroic.”
“My heart goes out to the victims of this incident and I’m grateful for the police officers who responded,” Herold said.
“I am so sorry about the loss of Officer Talley.”
Hundreds lined a Boulder highway to pay tribute to the fallen officer.
The suspect has been identified as Ahmad Alissa of Arvada. He allegedly shot at cars parked in the store’s parking lot before going inside and opening fire with his weapon.
He was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting. He faces several charges, including ten counts of murder.
