This undated photo provided by the Boulder Police Department shows Colorado shooting suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. Alissa has been identified as the suspect in Monday, March 22, 2021 shooting rampage at a grocery store in Boulder. (Boulder Police Department via AP) 
A tribute is displayed outside the store owned by one of 10 victims in the mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colo., Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. A shrine filled with candles and flowers kept growing Wednesday outside Umba Love, the clothing and accessories shop that victim Tralona Bartkowiak ran with her sister on Boulder’s popular Pearl Street Mall. Bartkowiak died in the supermarket shooting attack on Monday. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A photograph of Suzanne Fountain, one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store, hangs on the temporary fence around the store Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A sign stands in tribute to Neven Stanisic, one of the victims of a mass shooting, on the temporary fence around a King Soopers grocery store, where 10 people died Monday in an attack, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
In this March 23, 2021, photo, a man leaves a bouquet on a police cruiser parked outside the Boulder Police Department after an officer was one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colo. The suspects in the most recent shooting sprees found it relatively easy to get their guns. The suspect in the shooting at a Boulder supermarket was convicted of assaulting a high school classmate but still got a gun.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
In this March 23, 2021, photo, a makeshift fence stands around the parking lot outside a King Soopers grocery store where a mass shooting took place in Boulder, Colo. The suspects in the most recent shooting sprees found it relatively easy to get their guns. The suspect in the shooting at a Boulder supermarket was convicted of assaulting a high school classmate but still got a gun. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store several days earlier, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A mourner cups the flame from the wind while holding a candle at a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting in a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Mourners attend a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Mourners hug at a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Mourners shield the flames of their candles from the wind at a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Lydia Sturgis cradles her 6-year-old border collie Lewis as the pair join other mourners at a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a grocery store earlier in the week, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, outside the courthouse in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
This undated photo provided by Philippe Bernier shows Suzanne Fountain. Fountain was one of the people killed during a mass shooting at a grocery store Monday, March 22, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (Philippe Bernier via AP)
BOULDER | Three days after he was led away in handcuffs from a Boulder supermarket were 10 people were fatally shot, the suspect appeared in court Monday for the first time and his defense lawyer asked for a mental health assessment “to address his mental illness.”
Kathryn Herold, the lawyer for suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, provided no other details about what he might suffer from.
During the brief hearing, Alissa appeared in court wearing a mask. He didn’t speak other than to say yes to a question from the judge and did not enter a plea to the charges.
Alissa, 21, remains held without bail on 10 charges of first-degree murder and a prosecutor said that authorities planned to file more charges.
A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting had previously said the suspect’s family told investigators they believed Alissa was suffering some type of mental illness, including delusions.
Relatives have described times when Alissa told them people were following or chasing him, which they said may have contributed to the violence, the official said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Hundreds of mourners gathered Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil to remember the 10 people gunned down at a supermarket in a Colorado college town.
Alissa was last seen handcuffed and being led out of the supermarket by police. He had removed all clothing except his shorts before being taken into custody. A rifle, a green tactical vest and a handgun were recovered inside the grocery store, according to an arrest affidavit.
More than 500 people bundled in winter jackets and wool hats attended a downtown candlelight vigil Wednesday night to mourn the victims and comfort one another. They observed a moment of silence; violins soothed the crowd; a woman sang “Ave Maria” as candle flames flickered in the crisp air. A star-shaped light usually turned on for the holidays glowed on a mountain overlooking the open square.
Michele Weiner-Davis, a Boulder family therapist, offered the community some words of wisdom.
“Whatever you’re feeling, whatever you’re thinking, no matter how uncomfortable, it’s completely natural,” Weiner-Davis said. “Be patient with yourself. Additionally, be just as compassionate with the people in your lives who might also be struggling.”
In addition to Officer Eric Talley, 51, the victims are Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jodi Waters, 65. Leiker, Olds and Stong worked at the supermarket.
Earlier Wednesday, hundreds of people paid their respects during a police procession for Talley as his body was taken to a funeral home in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Police also announced that people whose cars were left in the supermarket parking lot Monday could retrieve them.
A supermarket employee told the AP she watched as the assailant opened fire and narrowly escaped his notice while joining others in a desperate scramble to get away.
Emily Giffen, 27, was smoking outside the store Monday during a break when she heard multiple loud pops that she knew were not fireworks. She said she saw a man running across an intersection suddenly fall over and another man approach him in a crouch and fire several rounds at close range.
“I don’t know how he didn’t see us,” she said of the suspect, who walked right by her before she ran into the supermarket and out the back.
“I just really am having a hard time understanding why me and my friends deserve to die,” she said, wondering why the gunman chose to target the Boulder store specifically.
According to the arrest affidavit, the suspect bought a Ruger AR-556 pistol — which resembles an AR-15 rifle with a slightly shorter stock — on March 16, six days before the attack. Authorities have not disclosed where the gun was purchased.
According to two law enforcement officials, Alissa was born in Syria in 1999, emigrated to the U.S. as a toddler and later became a U.S. citizen. He would need to be a citizen to buy a gun. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
An AR-15-style gun recovered inside the supermarket was believed to have been used in the attack, said a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
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Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long in Washington, Jim Anderson in Denver, Thalia Beaty in New York and AP staff members from around the U.S. contributed to this report. Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.