Anderson Lee Aldrich, the alleged attacker who shot and killed five people at a gay club in Colorado has been charged with 305 counts, including hate crimes and murder.
Aldrich appeared in court on Tuesday to hear the charges over the November 19 attack at the LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado that left five dead and injured at least 17 people. The Reuters news agency put the injury count at 22.
Aldrich had been preliminarily charged with five counts of murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury during a Nov. 24 hearing and has been held without bail.
Those killed were identified as Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paugh, 34; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.
Colorado Springs Police say Aldrich walked into Club Q just before midnight with an AR-15-style long rifle and opened fire.
Patrons at the club halted the attack, knocking Aldrich to the ground and pummelling him. Richard Fierro, a war veteran, told reporters that he took Aldrich’s pistol and hit the suspect repeatedly.
Fierro said his military training had kicked in when the shooting began and he wanted to keep everyone safe, including his family who was at the event. His daughter’s boyfriend was among the dead.
Aldrich was previously arrested in 2021 after their mother reported that they threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons, according to police.
Authorities said at the time that no explosives were found and no formal charges were pursued, and the record was wiped because of a “collateral relief” law in Colorado, which allows those accused of a crime a chance to move on in an arrest that never resulted in a conviction.
