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Wednesday 24 March 2021

'Our lives are ruined': Family of one of 10 Boulder shooting victims pay tribute to retired NY magazine director who was filling an Instacart order for someone else - as all of the dead are now pictured

 One of the 10 people shot dead in the Boulder grocery store massacre was a retired New York magazine photo director who was filling an Instacart shopping order for someone who couldn't make it to the store themselves. 

Lynn Murray, 62, is being remembered by her family as a kind and compassionate person who went out of her way to help others.     

Her family have revealed the mother-of-two was at the store at the time of the shooting to fill an Instacart order. She also occasionally worked for Lyft and Uber.


Murray was a retired New York City magazine photo director who had worked for Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Glamour before relocating to Colorado to raise her children.  

'She was an amazing woman, probably the kindest person I've ever known,' her husband John told the New York Times

'Our lives are ruined, our tomorrows are forever filled with a sorrow that is unimaginable. She was one of the greatest people you'd ever want to know: hard working, loving and compassionate, caring, went out of her way to make sure everyone else had a smile on their face.

'I just want her to be remembered as just as this amazing, amazing comet spending 62 years flying across the sky.'   

Lynn Murray, 62, is being remembered by her family as a kind and compassionate person who went out of her way to help others. Her family have revealed the mother-of-two was at the Boulder grocery store at the time of the shooting to fill an Instacart order

Lynn Murray, 62, is being remembered by her family as a kind and compassionate person who went out of her way to help others. Her family have revealed the mother-of-two was at the Boulder grocery store at the time of the shooting to fill an Instacart order

Murray was among the 10 gunned down at the King Soopers outlet in Boulder on Monday afternoon when 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa stormed in and opened fire.   

The others killed include: Rikki Olds, 25, Teri Leiker, 51, Denny Stong, 20, Neven Stanisic, 23, Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, Suzanne Fountain, 59, Kevin Mahoney, 61, and Jody Waters, 65.  

Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, 51, was also killed after he responded to the shooting. 

A picture of the victims emerged a day after the shootings as their families paid tribute to them, including California-based reporter Erika Mahoney who posted a heartbreaking image of her father walking her down the aisle during her wedding last year. 

'I am heartbroken to announce that my Dad, my hero, Kevin Mahoney, was killed in the King Soopers shooting in my hometown of Boulder, CO,' she wrote alongside the photo. 

'My dad represents all things Love. I'm so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer. I am now pregnant. I know he wants me to be strong for his granddaughter. Thank you to the Boulder PD for being so kind through this painful tragedy.' 

Kevin Mahoney's journalist daughter Erika tweeted a touching photo of him walking her down the aisle for her wedding last year as she paid tribute to him. He is among the 10 people shot dead in the Boulder grocery store massacre on Monday

Kevin Mahoney's journalist daughter Erika tweeted a touching photo of him walking her down the aisle for her wedding last year as she paid tribute to him. He is among the 10 people shot dead in the Boulder grocery store massacre on Monday

Teri Leiker, 51, whose boyfriend also worked at the store but survived, had worked there for 30 years
Rikki Olds, 25, who worked at the store as an assistant front-end manager throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, had been employed there since graduating high school

The family of Rikki Olds confirmed that she was among the 10 people killed at a King Soopers outlet in Boulder on Monday afternoon when the gunman opened fire 

Suzanne Fountain was a licensed Medicare agent and financial counselor

Suzanne Fountain was a licensed Medicare agent and financial counselor

Rikki Olds, who worked at the store as an assistant front-end manager throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, had been employed there since graduating high school.

She was raised by her grandmother after her mother abandoned her and her siblings as a young child.  

Olds hadn't seen her grandmother in person until recently given the young woman was a frontline worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They saw each other again only after Olds' grandmother was vaccinated.  

The young woman's family shared several tributes on social media as the grieving relatives called for the gunman to 'burn in hell'.

'We lost our beloved Rikki Olds to the monster who shot up the king soopers in Boulder CO yesterday may his rotten a** fry and burn in hell,' her aunt Lori Olds said. 

Teri Leiker, whose boyfriend also worked at the store but survived, had worked there for 30 years. 

Leiker's friend, Lexi Knutson, said the veteran employee loved working at the store. 

'She loved going to work and enjoyed everything about being there,' Knutson told Reuters. 

'Her boyfriend and her had been good friends and began dating in the fall of 2019. He was working yesterday too. He is alive.'  

Jody Waters, 65, is  a mother-of-two and grandmother who described herself as a 'creative entrepreneur'
Tralona Bartkowiak ran a small clothing and artisan store in Boulder and was recently engaged

Jody Waters, 65, (left), Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, (center) and Lynn Murray, 62, were among those gunned down inside the store

Denny Stong, 20, who was the youngest victim, was training to be a pilot. He also worked at the store where the shooting unfolded
Officer Eric Talley, 51, was a father to seven children and among the 10 people killed in the shooting
Neven Stanisic, 23

Denny Stong, 20, Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, 51, and Neven Stanisic, 23, were also shot dead in the massacre

Knuston said she believed Leiker's job had come through a special needs work program.  

Friends said Denny Stong, who was the youngest victim, was training to be a pilot. He also worked at the store where the shooting unfolded.

His Facebook profile photo has the caption: 'I can't stay home. I am a grocery store worker' in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

'My heart breaks. My son's best friend, Denny Stong was killed at the Boulder King Soopers yesterday. He was 21 and was training to become a pilot,' Laura Cole Spicer wrote in a Facebook tribute. 

Tralona Bartkowiak ran a small clothing and artisan store in Boulder and had recently become engaged. 

Her store mainly sold yoga and festival attire. Bartkowiak had, in recent years, regularly attended festivals like Burning Man to advertise her business.    

Jody Walters, a mother-of-two and grandmother, described herself as a 'creative entrepreneur'. 

Suzanne Fountain was a licensed Medicare agent and financial counselor. She was also an actress and, up until the pandemic, was also the manager of eTown, a nonprofit live music venue in Boulder.

Kevin Mahoney is pictured above with his family. He was among those gunned down in the store

Kevin Mahoney is pictured above with his family. He was among those gunned down in the store

Olds (pictured left with her boyfriend Jordan), who worked at the store as an assistant front-end manager throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, had been employed there since graduating high school

Olds (pictured left with her boyfriend Jordan), who worked at the store as an assistant front-end manager throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, had been employed there since graduating high school

Leiker, whose boyfriend also worked at the store but survived, had worked there for 30 years
Leiker, whose boyfriend also worked at the store but survived, had worked there for 30 years

Leiker, whose boyfriend also worked at the store but survived, had worked there for 30 years

The gunman first opened fire in the parking lot of the store before going inside where witnesses described him shooting at staff and shoppers. 

Survivors hid in food aisles and sheltered while trying to listen to which direction he was coming from, and if he was reloading what they described as an AR-15 rifle. 

Police, over radio scanners, told each other to take 'head shots only' after reports that he might have been wearing a tactical vest. The terror went on for around 20 minutes before he was taken into custody. 

Talley was among the first officers on the scene following reports of the active shooting. 

In the aftermath of the massacre, Talley's father said the slain officer had been learning to become a drone operator so he could step away from the front line. 

'He didn't want to put his family through something like this,' his father Homer Talley said. 

Talley is survived by his his wife and their seven children. Their youngest child is seven years old. 

'He loved his kids and his family more than anything,' his father said.  

Talley had been working as an officer for just over a decade after enrolling in the Aurora's Police Training Academy when he was 40 years old. Talley, who had a master's degree, had quit his stable IT job in 2010 after one of his close friends died in a DUI crash.  

A mourner leaves a bouquet of flowers along a fence put up around the parking lot where a mass shooting took place in a King Soopers grocery store on Tuesday

A mourner leaves a bouquet of flowers along a fence put up around the parking lot where a mass shooting took place in a King Soopers grocery store on Tuesday

Police cruiser parked outside Boulder Police Department is covered with bouquets in tribute after an officer was one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store

Police cruiser parked outside Boulder Police Department is covered with bouquets in tribute after an officer was one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store

Ahmad Alissa, the 21-year-old gunman from Monday's shooting at a Colorado grocery store. He is shown in an old Facebook photograph with wrestling medals across his neck
Ahmad Alissa, the 21-year-old gunman from Monday's shooting at a Colorado grocery store

GUNMAN: Ahmad Alissa, the 21-year-old gunman from Monday's shooting at a Colorado grocery store. He is shown, left, wearing wrestling medals from the North American Grappling Association, in an undated Facebook photo 

Police have not yet confirmed whether the gunman is the man who was seen being led out of the store, shirtless and barefoot, with blood dripping down one of his legs

Police have not yet confirmed whether the gunman is the man who was seen being led out of the store, shirtless and barefoot, with blood dripping down one of his legs 

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