Ahmad Alissa: Boulder shooting suspect was bullied in high school and that left him 'paranoid', says brother
The brother of the Boulder shooting suspect has claimed that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was bullied a lot in high school that led to his anti-social behavior. Speaking with The Daily Beast, Ali Aliwi Alissa said, “The guy used to get bullied a lot in high school. He was like an outgoing kid, but after he went to high school and got bullied a lot, he started becoming anti-social.” The 34-year-old also stated that the March 22 attack allegedly carried out at the King Soopers in Boulder by Ahmad was not to make a “political statement, it’s mental illness.”
The suspect's family reportedly emigrated from Syria to the US in 2002. In 2017, the then-17-year-old was a student of Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colorado. A police report from that year stated that Ahmad was so frustrated with the alleged continuous bullying in the school that he violently attacked another student, Alex Kimose, which left the right side of his face “red and swollen”. Due to the attack, Kimose’s eye also got partially closed and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth.
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At the time, the shooting suspect who has been charged with ten counts of murder in the first degree, alleged that he attacked Kimose because the latter was harassing him for the past year. Ahmad accused his classmate of calling him “racist names, called him a terrorist, and even took a video of him and put it on Snapchat” where he was called a “nerd.” The police report stated, “Ahmad wrote that he ‘could not take it anymore, so blacked out and rushed him.’” He also added that he did not “remember the incident much.”
However, at the time, Kimose’s testimony gave a very different story. He told school resource officer John Zubrinic that he had no idea why he was attacked by Ahmad, who “came up behind him and just punched him without saying anything.” The victim added that “they used to be friends.” Not just Kimose, but the 28 people interviewed by police at the time also backed his statement and claimed that the attack “was totally unprovoked and that Alex had never talked to Ahmad during class.” “They all stated that Ahmad appeared extremely angry and that Alex never fought back,” the official document stated.
Stephanie Bashford, the teacher who was in the classroom when the attack happened, also said that Kimose “did not fight back at all,” while Ahmad “had a ‘look of pure anger’ on his face” during the incident. At the time, the accused was given two months of probation and 48 hours of community service after he pled guilty to the assault charge.
Meanwhile, Ahmad’s brother also called him “very anti-social” and paranoid. In a phone interview with the Daily Beast, Ali said, “When he was having lunch with my sister in a restaurant, he said, ‘People are in the parking lot, they are looking for me.’ She went out, and there was no one. We didn’t know what was going on in his head.” The brother also showed his shock over the Boulder shooting allegedly carried out by his younger brother. He added, “The entire thing surprised me. I never ever would have thought he would do such a thing. I never thought he would kill. I still can’t believe it. I am really sad for the lives that he wasted, and I feel sorry for all those families ... We lost a brother even if he is the killer.”