Colorado Springs, Colorado – A Navy sailor and an Army veteran heroically intervened to end a deadly mass shooting at Club Q, a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. The attacker, Anderson Aldrich, killed five people and injured 22 in the tragic event that unfolded in November 2022.
According to federal prosecutors, Aldrich spent $9,000 on weapons-related purchases in the two years leading up to the attack, patronizing at least 56 different vendors between September 2020 and Nov. 19, 2022, the day of the shooting. He meticulously assembled an “AR-15 style assault rifle” from privately manufactured gun parts without serial numbers and carried out the mass shooting at Club Q.
Aldrich has already pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder in state court and is currently serving five consecutive life sentences plus 2,208 years in prison. However, he is also facing 74 federal charges, including hate crime and weapons counts, and is expected to plead guilty and be sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on June 18.
Prosecutors highlighted Aldrich’s careful planning before the mass shooting, pointing to the $9,000 in weapons purchases as evidence. They also cited items found in Aldrich’s home post-attack, including a hand-drawn map of Club Q with specific markings and a binder of training material on handling an active shooter.
In the sentencing motion, prosecutors emphasized Aldrich’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric leading up to the attack, including a series of emails containing derogatory language and a photo shared online depicting a rifle sight aimed at a gay pride parade. Aldrich also identified as nonbinary and used they/them pronouns, denying the attack was motivated by hate against the LGBTQ community in an interview.
Additionally, Aldrich posted videos of mass shootings, shared a supposed manifesto written by a mass shooter, and sent records allegedly related to another mass shooting at an LGBTQ establishment before the attack at Club Q. The sentencing motion also highlighted Aldrich’s repeated visits to Club Q before the shooting, indicating a level of premeditation in the tragic events that unfolded that night.