Suspect in Club Q mass shooting charged with 305 counts, including hate crimes and murder
The suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, was charged by prosecutors Tuesday with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder. The counts against Anderson Lee Aldrich include 48 hate crime charges, one for each person known to have been in the club at the time of the shooting.
During a hearing Tuesday, the 22-year-old defendant, who according to court papers filed by their attorney is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them, sat upright in a chair and appeared alert. In an earlier court appearance just a few days after the shooting, the defendant was slumped over — head and face covered with bruises — and had to be prompted by attorneys to respond to questions from a judge.
Investigators said the defendant entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, just before midnight on Nov. 19 and began shooting during a drag queen's birthday celebration. The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground, beating the defendant into submission, they said.
Of the 48 hate crime charges, 27 counts involve injuries and 21 involve people fearing injury or property damage. In addition to those killed or wounded by gunfire at the club, police have said five people had non-gunshot injuries and other victims had "no visible injuries."
The defendant had been held on hate crime charges but prosecutors had said previously they weren't sure if those counts would stick because they needed to assess if there was adequate evidence to show it was a bias motivated crime.
District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — likely life in prison — but also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated if there was evidence to support the charge.
At a news conference after the court hearing, Allen declined to discuss what evidence prosecutors found to back the hate crimes counts. However, he said a recent change in Colorado law allows offenders to be charged with hate crimes even if they are only partially motivated by bias.
"If it was not for that change we would probably not be able to charge it in this case," he said.
Allen said the suspect being nonbinary was "part of the picture" in considering hate crime charges but he wouldn't elaborate.
"We are not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity," Allen said. "Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long."
Judge Michael McHenry ordered the arrest warrant affidavit in the case to be unsealed on Wednesday, over the objections of defense attorney Joseph Archambault, who said he was concerned about the defendant's right to a fair trial due to publicity surrounding the case.
The defendant was arrested at the club by police. They have not entered a plea or spoken about the events.
According to witnesses, the defendant fired first at people gathered at the club's bar before spraying bullets across the dance floor during the attack, which came on the eve of an annual day of remembrance for transgender people lost to violence.
The shooting came more than a year after the defendant was arrested following a standoff with SWAT teams after authorities say the defendant threatened to stockpile guns, ammo and body armor to become the "next mass killer." But charges were dropped, the record is sealed and prosecutors say they can't legally talk about what happened.
Authorities have yet to explain why they didn't attempt to seize the defendant's guns under Colorado's "red flag" law after the defendant was accused of threatening to kill their grandparents if they stood in the way of the defendant's plans to become a mass killer.
The defendant was booked into jail on suspicion of felony menacing and kidnapping, but it's unclear why the charges weren't pursued.
Ring doorbell video obtained by the AP shows the defendant arriving at their mother's front door with a big black bag, telling her the police were nearby and adding, "This is where I stand. Today I die."
