Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, the suspect in the mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs, last month, was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, bias-motivated crimes and attempted murder. Aldrich appeared in court on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (Video still via El Paso County District Court)
The suspect in the mass shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs last month was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, bias-motivated crimes and attempted murder.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, had been arrested and held on suspicion of five counts of first-degree murder and five hate-crime charges immediately after the Nov. 20 mass shooting at Club Q, but prosecutors did not bring formal criminal charges until Tuesday, which is normal under Colorado’s court process.
Aldrich faces 10 counts of first-degree murder, 86 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 48 counts of bias-motivated crimes and 90 counts of assault. The charges against Aldrich also include 71 sentence enhancers, online court records show, which allow prosecutors to pursue harsher penalties should Aldrich be convicted.
Aldrich appeared Tuesday in a Colorado Springs courtroom. Over the objection of Aldrich’s defense attorneys, El Paso County District Court Judge Michael McHenry ordered the arrest affidavit in the case be unsealed by the end of the day on Wednesday.
Aldrich is accused of killing five people and wounding 17 others in the attack. Five additional people were injured during the attack but not by gunfire, police have said.
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Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said the charges against Aldrich could change should more victims come forward.
The shooting suspect identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, their attorneys wrote in court filings.
During the attack, the suspect was beaten into submission by club patrons who stopped the mass shooting within minutes. Aldrich appeared in court via video for the first time Nov. 23 with a heavily bruised face. They spoke briefly with slurred speech and sat slumped over.
Those killed were: Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; Derrick Rump, 38; Raymond Green Vance, 22.