The 21-year-old Arvada man accused of gunning down 10 people in a Boulder King Soopers March 22 comes from a family that immigrated to the United States when he was a toddler and appeared to be relatively successful.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa lived with his parents in the top level of their two-story Arvada home next to the West Woods Golf Course.

Court records show he belonged to a large family, with seven siblings. Before Alissa’s Facebook account was locked, it showed the Alissas came to America in 2002, when he was barely 3-years-old.

Family patriarch Moustafa Alissa did not reply to the Denver Gazette’s attempt to get the family’s side: emails, phone messages, a letter mailed to the family home or a reporter’s visit there.

But court records and Alissa’s Facebook page show he worked at the family-owned Mediterranean food restaurant the Sultan Grill in Arvada.

The restaurant has been closed and a reporter’s visit Monday showed no activity — or any visible signs of support for the family from customers, as some media outlets reported.

The Sultan Grill’s Facebook page, however, revealed both supporters and hateful detractors urging a boycott.

“How quickly will those people judge when one of their loved ones does something that brings shame and anger to their own family,” one customer posted. “This is sad, their family has had to move from their residence, people are attacking them on their restaurant Facebook page.”

Though Alissa had several Islamic-themed posts on his page — along with mixed-martial arts posts — it’s not clear if the family belonged to any area mosques. Officials from the two closest to the family home said they did not worship there.

The Eagle’s Nest Armory off West 64th Avenue, where Alissa legally purchased the military-style firearm Ruger AR-556 March 16 allegedly used in the attack, is less than three miles from the family home and directly across the street from a King Soopers.

It remains unclear why Alissa allegedly drove a black Mercedes C sedan registered to his brother 15 miles up Colorado Highway 93 to the Boulder King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive.

Many have wondered aloud on social media platforms if the family did enough to prevent the shooting, especially after it was revealed in the arrest affidavit Alissa’s sister-in-law told Arvada police two days before the shooting she saw him fiddling with a firearm that she said looked like a machine gun, because he said a bullet was stuck. She told investigators the family took the weapon and were upset he was working on the gun in the house.

An unnamed source told the Washington Post family members returned the gun to Alissa when he told them he was going to return it to the Eagle’s Nest.

A Facebook friend of Alissa named Bruce Niyonkuru texted a Denver Gazette reporter via Facebook messenger that he was on the wrestling team with the alleged shooter in 2014-15 at Denver South High School, before he transferred to another high school and Alissa went to Arvada West, where he graduated in 2018.

“He was normal. He just kept to himself and only spoke to those who he normally talked to,” Niyonkuru wrote. “I don’t remember him ever being in a fight or starting a problem with anyone.

“I haven’t spoke to him since I left South, but what happened in those 4 years since graduating is what’s on everyone’s mind.”