A woman from the Chicago area was one of 10 people killed in a shooting Monday at a Colorado supermarket, police in Boulder confirmed Tuesday.
According to a Facebook post, one of the victims of the mass shooting was Jody Waters, 65. Waters graduated from Barrington High School in 1973, according to the post.
On Tuesday, Blair Corbett wrote in the alumni Facebook group:
I am saddened to inform the group of the sudden passing of our ’73 alumni Jody Waters, a victim of the senseless mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado on March 22, 2021. While I knew Jody in school, I know others, Boyd Corbett, Douglas Roy McCullagh and others knew her very well as both fellow students, as well as close friends into adulthood. Pleases contact those that you knew were friends of Jody and her family that may want to try to get in touch.
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According to NBC 9 News in Boulder, Waters worked in Colorado's fashion industry with a goal to one day open her own boutique.
Scott Schaefer and Stephanie Boyles, co-owners of Embrazio in Boulder, said Waters worked for the store in design, brand-building and trade shows. The two said they would often go to dinner and take hikes with Waters.
"She was so special to work with, because people just gravitated to Jody, and knew she had a sense of style and was fun to be around," Schaefer said.
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Schaefer and Boyles added that she was both a mother and grandmother with a "bright and high-energy personality" who was deeply caring.
"When Jody looked at you, you could feel the love and it would radiate from her and into you," Boyles said. "Her grandchild, when he was born, he was (just) like her heart."
Police on Tuesday identified a 21-year-old man as the suspect in the killing of 10 people, including a Boulder police officer, at a Colorado supermarket. Authorities also identified nine victims after previously identifying the slain police officer as 51-year-old Eric Talley.
The victims ranged in age from 20 to 65, said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold. Aside from Waters, their names were: Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikky Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Eric Talley, 51, Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62.
Court documents showed that the suspect, identified as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, purchased an assault rifle less than a week before the attack. Supermarket employees told investigators that the suspect shot an elderly man multiple times outside the King Soopers supermarket before going inside, according to the documents. Another person was found shot in a vehicle next to a car registered to the suspect’s brother. The documents did not say where the gun was purchased.
As of Tuesday, investigators did not know yet why the suspect opened fire inside the grocery store, Dougherty said. He added that the investigation is in the early stages, but that detectives believe the suspect was the only shooter.
