“I know what last night was like,” he stated, referring to the lengthy wait earlier than some households be taught they’ll by no means be reunited with their family members.

Across Boulder, the patrons and staff who barely escaped the gunfire stated they had been nonetheless uncooked and numb and will barely start to grieve.

Kimberly Moore, 35, a pharmacy technician, stated the gunman’s rampage ended not removed from the room the place she and her co-workers had been hiding. For a half-hour, she stated, they stayed as quiet as they might, hoping that their face masks muffled the sound of their respiratory.

Ms. Moore stated she might hear the gunman firing what seemed like two deliberate pictures into individuals:

Bang bang.

Bang bang.

“You’re sitting there, completely exposed, listening to him kill everyone you know,” she stated.

Deb Grojean, a victims’ advocate with the Boulder Police Department who spent hours with witnesses on Monday night time, stated one lady who survived the assault had not too long ago moved from Dallas to Colorado in hopes of discovering a safer place to reside. The lady informed Ms. Grojean that she and two different staff hid upstairs in a storage closet.

“We think it’s inconceivable that this could happen in Boulder, but it’s proof it could happen anywhere,” Ms. Grojean stated, after which requested a query swirling just like the snow that crept over the mountains late on Tuesday. “When is enough, enough?”

Jack Healy reported from Boulder and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from Tivoli, N.Y. Reporting was contributed by Bryan Pietsch, Joel Petterson, Erik Vance and Ali Watkins from Boulder; Stephanie Saul, Sara Aridi, Maggie Astor, Jacey Fortin and Will Wright from New York; Edgar Sandoval from Houston; Mike Baker from Seattle; Ben Decker from Boston; Richard Pérez-Peña from Bergen County, N.J.; C.J. Chivers; and Marie Fazio from Jacksonville, Fla. Alain Delaquérière contributed analysis.