Mass shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich appears in two booking photos provided by the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Colorado court system officials released the now-unsealed affidavit against Club Q shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, on Wednesday.
Surveillance footage from late Nov. 19 showed Aldrich arriving in a gold Toyota Highlander at 11:55 p.m. and opening fire “almost immediately upon entering the main area of the club.”
“When Anderson exited the driver’s door of the vehicle, it was apparent that he was wearing a ballistic vest and was carrying an AR-15 style assault rifle,” authorities said. “He entered the business and, after entering the business a short distance, he opened fire indiscriminately at patrons inside of the club.”
Excerpt from the affidavit against Anderson Lee Aldrich
As previously reported, Aldrich allegedly shot and killed five people while rampaging through the LGBTQ club: bartender Daniel Davis Aston, 28; customer Kelly Loving, 40; bartender and bar co-owner Derrick Rump, 38, customer Ashley Paugh, 35; and customer Raymond Greene Vance, 22.
The defense in court documents has asserted Aldrich is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, but prosecutors brought forward a slew of charges including hate crimes. This shows they believe the defendant was motivated by bigotry.
Aston was a transgender man, Loving was a transgender woman, and Rump was gay. Paugh was not part of the LGBTQ community, her sister said. Vance was there with his girlfriend Kassy and her family. Kassy’s father Richard M. Fierro, a local man who served four combat tours in the U.S. Army, is credited as one of the people who stopped Aldrich.
According to the police affidavit, Fierro said he was at Club Q with his family and friends to watch his daughter’s friend perform. They were sitting near the stage when there was multiple gunshots near the front door of the club. He ducked for cover. He saw the suspect with an AR-style rifle and a bulletproof vest shooting at what he believed to be the patio area.
“Richard Fierro stated he observed an unknown male pull the suspect to the ground and he went over to help him,” documents stated. “Richard Fierro stated the suspect was lying face-down on the ground, he (Richard Fierro) got on his back, and began striking him. Richard Fierro stated the suspect continued to try and grab the AR-rifle which was towards the suspect’s right hand.”
Fierro said he grabbed the suspect’s handgun and struck the suspect with it.
Authorities took custody of Aldrich, and took the suspect to the hospital.
“Detective Joines was unable to speak with Anderson at the time because he was [REDACTED],” authorities wrote.
Aldrich’s mugshot depicts injuries, including widespread bruising of the face and neck.
“Sergeant T. Lindvall 2417 and Officer C. Pittman 7249 were outside the treatment room of Anderson and advised Detective Joines they had overheard Anderson tell medical staff he was sorry and he had been awake for four days,” authorities wrote.
A detective arrived at a potential address for Aldrich and encountered Aldrich’s mother Laura Lea Voepel, 45.
“Laura advised she and Anderson were going to go to a movie at [10 p.m.] but Anderson left on an errand he told her would take only 15 minutes,” authorities said. “She said he did not provide her any other information. Laura said she did not see Anderson when he left and did not know if he took anything with him. Laura stated Anderson took her phone with him and she had not seen him since.”
When asked about any weapons belonging to her or Aldrich, she said they did not have any other than Aldrich owning a folding pocket knife.
The affidavit did not note this, but Voepel was reportedly cited for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest around this time.
Voepel’s incident happened Nov. 20 at 3:30 a.m., according to Denver FOX affiliate KDVR. That was hours before authorities publicly identified Aldrich as the shooter at Club Q.
Police in the Aldrich affidavit said a detective arrived at Voepel’s apartment at approximately 3:45 a.m. as part of the Aldrich investigation.
“Subject continued to make unreasonable noise directly next to multiple apartments,” said a summons obtained by Denver NBC affiliate KUSA — a document that referenced Voepel. “While I attempted to place subject into custody, she became combative by physically resisting officers control by force.”
[Mugshot via Colorado Springs Police Department]
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