California public radio news director loses father in Boulder shooting

A news director for a National Public Radio (NPR) member station announced Tuesday that her father was one of the 10 victims of the previous day’s deadly shooting in Boulder, Colo.

Erika Mahoney, who works as the news director for NPR’s Pacific Grove, Calif., station KAZU, posted a series of tweets revealing that her father, 61-year-old Kevin Mahoney, had died after a shooter opened fire at the King Soopers grocery store. 

Mahoney, who called her father her “hero,” said she was “heartbroken.” 

“My dad represents all things Love,” she tweeted, along with photos of her with her arm interlocked with his at her wedding last year. 

“I’m so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer,” she said. 

Mahoney said that she is now pregnant, adding that she believes her father “wants me to be strong for his granddaughter.”

She then thanked the Boulder Police Department “for being so kind through this painful tragedy.”

“I love you forever Dad. You are always with me,” she added. 

I am now pregnant. I know he wants me to be strong for his granddaughter.

— Erika Mahoney (@MahoneyEb) March 23, 2021

I love you forever Dad. You are always with me. pic.twitter.com/lOK2F3rcfB

— Erika Mahoney (@MahoneyEb) March 23, 2021

According to authorities, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa opened fire Monday at the Boulder grocery store as customers gathered to shop and receive COVID-19 vaccines. 

Mahoney’s father and nine others, including a police officer who responded to the attack, were killed. Officers on Tuesday said the victims ranged in age from 20 to 65. 

An arrest warrant issued for Alissa noted that he had an assault rifle and used body armor during the shooting, and The Associated Press reported Tuesday that court documents showed he purchased the assault rifle less than a week before the attack. 

Alissa has been charged with 10 counts of murder, police announced Tuesday. Authorities have not yet named a motive for the shooting. 

The violence has prompted renewed conversations on gun reform legislation, with President Biden calling on Congress in an address from the White House to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as close loopholes in the background check system. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who first introduced the Federal Assault Weapons Ban before it was enacted into law in 1994, called for Congress to once again pass the legislation after the Boulder shooting. 

Feinstein argued that the ban, which expired in 2004, could have prevented Monday’s attack, noting that a court blocked a 2018 Boulder assault weapons ban just 10 days before the shooting.