Anderson Lee Aldrich: Club Q shooter to be sentenced on federal charges for hate crimes, gun violations

CNN
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The shooter who opened fire at a Colorado LGBTQ+ nightclub in 2022, killing five people and injuring 19 others, is expected to be sentenced on federal charges of hate crimes and firearms violations.

Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to 74 federal hate crime and gun charges in connection with the shooting. Prosecutors opted not to impose the death penalty in the case, and the U.S. Department of Justice announced in January that it had reached a plea deal with Aldrich.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney said she would wait to accept the plea deal — which would see Aldrich serve 55 life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 190 years — until the conclusion of the trial proceedings. sentencing Tuesday.

In a press release announcing the deal, the Justice Department called the attack “willful, deliberate” and “malicious,” alleging it was committed “because of sexual orientation and real or perceived gender identity of any person.”

Aldrich, 24, pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges against him in the shooting and is already serving five consecutive life sentences and an additional 2,212 years without the possibility of parole at the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

“The defendant's brazen and calculated attacks on Club Q employees and customers, as well as the impact of the defendant's actions on the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole, justify this sentence and achieve the objectives of the determination of the sentence,” said a Justice Department statement submitted to the court.

The document describes the shooting as “a bias-motivated, premeditated, mass-casualty attack.” Aldrich had expressed open hatred toward the LGBTQ+ community and had previously expressed interest in mass shootings, according to the document.

Aldrich started the massacre at the club as patrons gathered for Transgender Day of Remembrance, for which Club Q had scheduled a weekend of events, including a drag show. The club was one of the few LGBTQ+ spaces in Colorado Springs and became known for fostering a safe and inclusive atmosphere in a conservative community.

The shooter spent more than $9,000 on weapons and visited the club several times before, familiarizing himself with the layout, according to the sentencing document.

Then, in the late hours of November 19, 2022, the then 22-year-old man entered the club with an AR-15-style assault rifle and began “shooting everyone in sight,” according to the conviction document. Some patrons hid or played dead as Aldrich moved around the club, shooting indiscriminately.

The violence ended when an Army veteran shot the gunman, aided by a Navy petty officer and a drag performer from the club.

Two bar employees, Derrick Rump and Daniel Aston, were killed, along with Ashley Paugh, Kelly Loving and Raymond Green Vance.

Several victims who were shot but survived required surgery for their injuries and continue to face medical issues, including loss of mobility and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The shooting echoes the devastating 2016 shooting at Pulse, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead.

For the queer community in Colorado Springs, the mass shooting was traumatic. The club served as a crucial refuge for people from diverse backgrounds living in a conservative stronghold. A trans man who worked as a drag king at Club Q told CNN after the shooting: “Our safety as queer people in Colorado Springs is now in question. I'm afraid to be myself as a trans man in this community.

Aldrich received harsh sentences for the brutal attack: The 2023 sentence was the second longest ever handed down in Colorado, behind the 2012 Aurora theater mass shooting, according to the district attorney.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the status of Anderson Lee Aldrich's plea. The shooter agreed in January to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from the Club Q shooting.