By Jessica Easthope
Against the backdrop of the picturesque Colorado mountains, tragedy struck. Ten people, their ages spanning from 20 to 65, were killed while working and shopping at the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder.
If you were to walk into the grocery store, Rikki Olds would be one of the first people you’d see as the front-end manager.
“She was giggly and bubbly,” said her aunt Lori, “you couldn’t be sad around her.”
Rikki was gunned-down alongside two of her co-workers, King Soopers employees’ Teri Leiker and the youngest victim, 20-year-old Denny Stong.
“I kind of stepped outside, saw someone shooting,” said Logan Smith, one of Denny’s friends, “ran back inside, more shooting when I got back inside.”
Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, 51, was killed. He was one of the first members of law enforcement to get to the store where Tralona Bartkowiak was shopping. Tralona managed a local yoga and accessories store. She was recently engaged.
“She was just always a caring, giving, wonderful person,” said friend Tricia Hunter. “I’m just devastated.”
Kevin Mahoney was described as a dad to everyone. Yet, no one was more devastated by his passing than his own daughter, Erika, who took to Twitter to express her heartache, writing “my dad represents all things love.”
Families and friends are in mourning over a senseless act of violence. Now their loved ones live on in the memories.