COLORADO SPRINGS — Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is accused of fatally shooting five people and wounding 17 others at a Colorado Springs nightclub last month, was formally charged with 305 counts, including murder, hate crimes and assault, on Tuesday.
The charges include 10 counts of murder, along with multiple counts of attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and hate crimes, Michael J. Allen, the district attorney for the region, told the court. If convicted of murder, Aldrich could be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, Allen told reporters after the hearing.
Dozens of counts of hate crimes — known as bias-motivated crimes in Colorado — reflect the number of people investigators have so far identified who were present at the club at the time of the attack, Allen said. More victims may be identified, which could lead to additional charges, he added.
“We’re not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity, those types of things,” Allen said. “Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long.”
Police and prosecutors have provided limited information to the public about the investigation into the Club Q shooting and Aldrich’s possible motive. The county district court judge presiding over Tuesday’s hearing ordered the arrest warrant affidavit — which can include a narrative of how law enforcement officials say the attack unfolded — to be unsealed Wednesday, agreeing to a prosecution request to allow victims and their families time to digest its contents.
Aldrich, 22, is being represented by public defenders, who in court records have said the suspect is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them. Allen said the suspect’s gender identity is “part of the picture” but did not influence the decision to file hate crimes charges, which he said prosecutors have evidence to support.
Aldrich shuffled into the courtroom Tuesday in a lime-green prison uniform. The suspect seemed alert and healthy; in the previous court appearance, Aldrich appeared incoherent and heavily bruised.
The shooting was the latest mass killing in Colorado, home to a disproportionate share of such attacks. It has spurred renewed calls by members of the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature for stronger state gun laws.
Colorado has a red-flag law, which allows authorities to remove guns from potentially dangerous people. Aldrich was arrested last year in connection with an alleged bomb threat that prompted a partial evacuation of the Colorado Springs neighborhood where Aldrich and Aldrich’s mother lived. Aldrich was charged with kidnapping and felony menacing but, for reasons that remain unclear, was never prosecuted. No bomb was found.
It is not clear when or how Aldrich gained access to weapons or whether the red-flag law would have applied. Allen declined to comment Tuesday on how the suspect obtained the guns.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for late February. Allen said a jury trial is unlikely to begin before the end of 2023.