On March 22, 2021, a gunman opened fire at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. Ten people were murdered including shoppers, store employees and a police officer.
Erika Mahoney, a former public radio and television reporter, never imagined that she would be at the heart of such a story. Her father Kevin Mahoney was one of the ten murdered.
“I found myself on the other side of the story. I was no longer the one asking the questions, I was answering the questions,” she said.
“It took a long time for me to come around and be able to tell my own story.”
Mahoney says she felt called to create “Senseless” as a way to process her own loss. The podcast series tells the story of the 2021 King Soopers shooting through the voices of those most affected.
One of those voices is Olivia Mackenzie. Her mother, Lynn Murray, was a former photo director for Cosmopolitan and Glamour magazines. She was killed in the attack while grocery shopping.
“She was the most devoted and dedicated mom to me, to my brother, and to all my friends. So cool, so elegant, effortless, and just a wonderful human being,” said Mackenzie.
Mackenzie says the first year after her mother’s death was a fog of pain, an experience she calls isolating, and at times, indescribable.
“You are initially struck with this just horrible, awful, dark void type of feeling that is very unrelatable,” she said. “You feel like you can’t really relate to the rest of the world. You can’t go into a grocery store and you really do feel like people don't understand.”
The title of the podcast echoes something Mackenzie’s father said in an interview after the shooting: “How do you make sense of the senseless?”
It’s a question Erika Mahoney kept returning to as she spoke with more than 30 people whose lives intersected with the tragedy.
“These interviews that I’ve collected and this story that I’ve been living has been inside of my body for so long. And now I’m just excited for it to get out into the world,” she said.
The ripple effect of gun violence
The podcast explores not just what happened that day, but what followed.
It examines the aftermath, the grief and the trauma experienced by the entire community, and it features the stories of medical workers, grocery store staff and even reporters who covered the event.
“We use the phrase ‘ripple effect’ all the time, but it’s true,” Mahoney said. “These one incidents create so much pain... and also, on the flip side, a lot of connection. And one thing that has become so apparent in doing these interviews is how connected we all are and how in the end, friendships can come from this.”
Mahoney and Mackenzie have become close friends in the past four years, sharing the grief of losing a parent in the shooting. But Erika says the podcast is ultimately about more than a single tragedy.
“No one goes through life unscathed. Life is really hard right now. It is testing our hope. And these are stories of getting back up, of healing, of connection, of compassion. And you don't have to be affected by a mass shooting for the messages and the topics to resonate with you. I think it goes beyond that. It's about grief and it's about trauma and it's about moving forward,” she said.
Mackenzie says she hopes “Senseless” helps people understand what happens after the cameras are gone.
“There are a lot of people in our country who do understand, unfortunately, and if it’s happened to you, I guess I would just like to say keep going. It does get better. And your loved ones, they’re still with you,” she said.
Ultimately, for Mahoney, “Senseless” is about turning her grief into something positive.
“I could have never imagined that I’d be here right now, four years ago. Never in a million years. And it’s been a journey, but I’m smiling, and I’ve turned my pain into purpose. And that’s what I want to show other people, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Copyright 2025 Rocky Mountain Community Radio.
This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including Aspen Public Radio.
