State Watch

Colorado child handed out flowers to supermarket employees after Boulder shooting

The morning after the deadly shooting that took 10 lives at a Boulder, Colo., grocery store, a young boy from a nearby town decided to spread some support throughout his community.

In Brighton, Colo., a town about 30 miles east of Boulder, 11-year-old JJ Witmer told his mother “we need to do something” after learning about the shooting in his home state, which he said “was really scary and sad,” The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

According to the Post, Witmer was most upset for the victims and their families, but he couldn’t stop thinking about employees at King Soopers locations throughout the state, who had to return to work the following day after three of their colleagues were killed.

The shooting took place at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder on Monday. Three employees of the store were left dead.

Witmer suggested to his mother handing out flowers to employees at King Soopers stores in Brighton and Commerce City to show his support, and she obliged, the Post reported.

The mother-son duo visited two King Soopers in the area, according to the Post. Witmer used his own money, which he earned from dog-walking, to purchase dozens of bright-colored carnations and red roses, the Post noted. Once the florists learned of Witmer’s mission, they gave him a generous discount.