Fact check: Colorado mass shooting is not a ‘false flag’ as conspiracy theory claims

The claim: The shooting that killed 10 people in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store is fake

Within hours of the shooting deaths of 10 people in Boulder, Colorado, misinformation about the shooting began to spread.

On Facebook, an account with nearly 60,000 followers wrote that the shooting was “fake.”

“False flag like most of the others. Don’t doubt me on this,” the post read.

Like similar conspiracy theories that have emerged after mass shootings, that post is false.

On March 22, a 21-year-old Colorado man was charged in the murder of 10 people, ranging in age from 20 to 65, after a shooting rampage in the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder.

The Facebook account that shared the post does not accept messages.

What happened in Colorado?

The shooting began at about 2:30 p.m. at the King Soopers grocery store on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder, with witnesses reporting the gunman started firing in the parking lot of the grocery store about 25 miles outside Denver before moving inside.

Boulder Police said the department received an emergency call about the shooting at about 2:40 p.m., and police arrived “within minutes and immediately entered the store and engaged the suspect.”

The gunman and police exchanged gunfire, police said, before the suspect was arrested just before 3:30 p.m. Boulder police issued an alert about the shooting just before 5 p.m., telling people to avoid the area near the grocery store.

People inside the store sheltered in place, according to The New York Times, before being escorted from the store by police after the gunman was arrested.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 21, is charged with 10 counts of murder in the shooting. He was expected to be released from the hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg, to the Boulder County Jail on March 23,.

Authorities said the man used an AR-15-style gun in the shooting, according to The New York Times.

All 10 people who were shot died in the incident, including the first police officer to arrive at the scene, according to The Denver Post.

Motionless bodies are visible inside and outside the grocery store in a livestreamed video posted to YouTube by someone who says on the recording that they were loading groceries when they heard gunshots, according to Yahoo News. Two gunshots ring out on the video before the person recording exits the store.

Witnesses described hiding inside the grocery store, running from gunfire and hearing gunshots.

On Tuesday, authorities identified the victims, who ranged in age from 20 to 65. Police said they had notified the families of those killed in the shooting by 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

Conspiracies around mass shootings

Conspiracy theories about mass shootings took off after 26 children and staff members were killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, according to PolitiFact.

The father of one of the Sandy Hook victims said conspiracy theorists drove him into hiding.

In PolitiFact’s 2019 report soon after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, a reporter found that Google search data showed a spike for the term “false flag” – used again in the Facebook post after the Boulder shooting – during mass shootings.

Searches for “boulder false flag” picked up steam late on March 22, as well.

Our ruling: False

The claim that the shooting in a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store where 10 people died on March 22 is fake is FALSE. Police have identified 10 victims and charged a suspect in the shooting. Witnesses described running from gunfire and hearing gunshots to independent media outlets, and a livestream of the incident posted on YouTube shows motionless bodies inside and outside the grocery store. Mass shootings have developed a reputation for drawing conspiracy theories.

Our fact-check sources:

• Politifact, Aug. 8, 2019, “Why do some people think mass shootings are staged every time?“
• USA TODAY, March 23, “Boulder shooting live updates: 21-year-old charged in rampage that ‘monstrously struck down’ 10 at grocery store“
• Boulder Police, March 23, Boulder shooting update
• Boulder Police, March 22, Active shooter alert
• The New York Times, March 23, “The suspect in the Boulder shooting used an assault rifle in the attack.“
• USA TODAY, March 23, “Lives ‘cut too short’: Beloved police officer among 10 victims of Boulder, Colorado, shooting“
• The Denver Post, March 22, “Boulder shooting: What we know so far about the King Soopers shooting“
• Yahoo News, March 23, “A man livestreamed the Boulder grocery-store shooting and posted the footage – including shots of motionless bodies – on YouTube“
• The New York Times, March 23, “‘The shots are getting closer.’ Witnesses recounted moments of terror, inside and outside the store.“
• PBS Frontline, July 28, 2020, “This Sandy Hook Father Lives In Hiding Because of Conspiracy Theories Fueled By Alex Jones“
• Google Trends, accessed March 23, Search data for “Boulder false flag”

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*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here ***