Club Q shooting suspect charged with 305 counts

Anderson Lee Aldrich, the suspect in the killing of five people in the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, is likely to face life in prison without parole if found guilty.

Aldrich, 22, was formally charged over the shooting in court on Tuesday. Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen announced that he will have to answer to a total of 305 charges, including murder, assault and hate crimes.

If found guilty of first-degree murder he’s expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole (Colorado abolished the death penalty in 2020). There is a possibility that Aldrich could also be further charged by the federal government.

“When you file 305 counts in a case, that tells the public… that we’re taking this case as serious as we possibly can, meaning that we are going to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law,” said Allen in a press conference on Tuesday.

He confirmed that he believes that there is enough evidence to convict Aldrich of “bias-motivated offences”, as hate crimes are known in the state.

“We’re not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity. Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long. That’s not going to occur in the fourth judicial district,” Allen said.

Aldrich’s public defence attorneys have revealed that the alleged killer identifies as nonbinary, uses they/them pronouns and wishes to be addressed as Mx. Aldrich by the court.

On Saturday 19 November, Aldrich barged into Club Q in Colorado Springs and opened fire on the patrons with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun.

He’s alleged to have killed Ashley Paugh, Daniel Davis Aston, Derrick Rump, Kelly Loving, and Raymond Green Vance, and injured 25 others.

Wearing camouflage and a bulletproof vest, Aldrich was tackled and held down by Thomas James and Richard Fierro, who’ve been described as heroes for ensuring that no more people were shot.

Aldrich is scheduled to next appear in court in February 2023.