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Boulder Police Officer Pam Gignac was the first officer to arrive at the Table Mesa King Soopers on March 22, 2021. Nine people had just been fatally shot when she ran inside with Sergeant Bryan Capobianco and Officer Eric Talley. Moments after entering, Talley was shot and killed by Ahmad Alissa.
Officer Bryan Plyter was in the second wave of responders and ducked when Alissa began firing at them.
More than two years later, both Gignac and Plyter took the stand at Alissa's trial and then lined the back of the courtroom with fellow officers as a judge read off guilty verdicts that would send Alissa to prison for the rest of his life.
"I expected that to be the verdict," Plyter said. "I didn't have any relief because I was fully expecting that was going to be the verdict."
Gignac said during the verdict reading her focus was on the victims' families. "I was worried for the families that if we didn't get guilty verdicts it would have just devastated them," Gignac said. "I was actually holding my breath at the beginning and then when she said the first guilty, I didn't care about the rest of them. We just needed one."
Today, Gignac works in the marijuana licensing sector of the department after years of being on patrol. "I just love the career," Gignac said. "I also know it can destroy you very quickly if you don't learn early on in your career how to handle the stress and the bad stuff."
Plyter said the stress from the incident has changed how he polices. He worked to acquire additional rifle-rated shields for the department and is now a member of the peer-support team, instructing recruits on officer survival techniques.
"I'm definitely not the same officer I was the day I responded to King Soopers," Plyter said. "I think my focus and my mission from that day forward has changed to really focus on the people within the police department."
"Every time I say goodbye to him now... it's definitely not the same as it used to be. I hold him a lot tighter than I did before," Plyter said of his son.
In years since, officers are now nominated for the Eric Talley Memorial Award, given to those who frequently exceed expectations when helping others within the department both professionally and personally.