The man accused of 2021’s mass shooting in Boulder will have a two-day hearing on Sept. 27 and 28 to determine if he has the mental capacity to stand trial.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 24, was previously ruled incompetent to face the case against him since late 2021. He has undergone treatment, including forced medication, from state doctors at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. A report submitted by his treatment providers in August to the case’s attorneys and 20th Judicial District Judge Ingrid Bakke indicated doctors now believe he is fit to stand trial.

The defendant is accused of killing 10 people on March 22, 2021 at King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive. He faces more than 100 charges and sentence enhancers, including 10 charges of first-degree murder, counts of attempted murder and charges related to possessing banned high-capacity gun magazines.

The victims killed were Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Teri Leiker, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; Jody Waters, 65; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; and, Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley.

Competence means a person charged with a crime has the ability to rationally understand the legal proceedings against them and can assist in their own defense. It’s not related to a person’s mental state at the time the crime for which they are accused occurred. It’s also a separate issue from sanity, which refers to a person’s ability to tell right from wrong at the time of the alleged crime.

The accused shooter has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, court filings have revealed, and has undergone forced medication treatments since earlier this year.

Despite the doctors’ opinion Alissa can now stand trial, Bakke will make the final determination. He officially remains incompetent until she makes a finding otherwise, and he will remain at the state hospital for treatment at least for now.

The hearing on his competence, called a restoration hearing, was previously twice set and then rescheduled before court officials agreed on this month’s date. The defendant’s defense attorneys objected last month to setting the hearing for Bakke to scrutinize his competence, requesting another evaluation by the state mental health institute. Bakke said in a ruling she denied the request because she assumed both sides had already prepared extensively for the restoration hearing, given it had been scheduled twice previously.

Alissa’s defense attorneys can argue in the hearing why they don’t believe he is competent.

Bakke also tentatively set a half-day probable cause hearing for the case at 9 a.m. on Nov. 14, in which she would decide whether enough evidence exists for the case to move to trial.