Anderson Lee Aldrich – the suspect in the Colorado Springs shooting, is now facing a range of charges, including five charges of murder and five charges of committing hate crimes.
Aldrich, who was arrested at Club Q, in Colorado Springs, after reportedly opening fire and killing five people and injuring at least 25, has been confirmed to be facing five murder charges and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury.
While the court has released the current charges, a Colorado judge has now agreed to seal court records related to Aldrich’s arrest at the request of prosecutors in an effort to not “jeopardise the ongoing case investigation”.
Aldrich was known to Police after recently being arrested in June 2021, after allegedly threatening his mother with “a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” which resulted in neighbours being forced to evacuate while the bomb squad and negotiators were sent in.
According to CNN, Aldrich, who eventually surrendered after the stand-off, was then cleared with no charges being pursued by Police after no explosives were found.
So far, it is unclear if the previous encounter with Police put Aldrich on a police watch list.
After the shooting, Police reportedly recovered two weapons, including a semi-automatic rifle; Aldrich was allegedly found wearing body armour.
