Police invite community to remember fallen officer, Ball State graduate Eric Talley

KMGH photo

Two Boulder Police officers lay flowers on a patrol car in memory of Officer Eric Talley. Talley was shot and killed in a mass shooting at the King Soopers grocery store in May 2021.

By: Michelle Kaufman

BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder Police are inviting the community to remember one of their own after he and nine others were killed in a shooting at a grocery store nearly one year ago.

Officer Eric Talley, a Ball State graduate, was the first officer to arrive at the King Soopers on March 22, 2021. Officials said Talley's actions, running toward the gunfire, and the actions of other police officers, saved lives.

On Friday, police put out a car and Talley's photo to give the community a place to remember him.

"They want to pay their respects and they want to join us in remembering Eric and his sacrifice," Dionne Waugh, Boulder Police Department spokeswoman, told our sister station KMGH. "This community was so incredibly supportive to us last year and this past year."

Waugh says the past year has been hard and the events have had a profound impact on the entire community, including the department.

"One of the things that helps is to remember Eric and the sacrifice he's made, but also to remember who he was as a person," Waugh said. "[We remember] the dedicated officer that he was who sacrificed his life in the line of duty to keep this community safe."

Talley was a father of seven who joined the department in 2010. President Biden called him "the definition of an American hero."

On March 22, the city will have a line of duty death commemoration to remember Talley in front of the police department as well as a community vigil.

"He's everything policing deserves and needs," Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said last year. "He cared about this community, he cared about Boulder Police Department, and he cared about his family. And he was willing to die to protect others."