The shooter, who killed five people when he opened fire on an LGBT+ club in Colorado in late November, was charged Tuesday with 305 counts, including several counts of “hate”-motivated murder. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, has been in custody since the shooting, which also injured at least 18 people.
The suspect, whom his court-appointed attorneys are identifying as non-binary, appeared in court on Tuesday to face the long list of charges against him. Among them are ten cases of murder – two for each victim. They face a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Mastered by a former military man
Anderson Lee Aldrich is also charged with attempted murder, hate crimes and assault. Wearing prison garb, the bearded and burly suspect appeared to have recovered from injuries he sustained when guests at Club Q overpowered him and ended the carnage.
Richard Fierro, who was at the club, told the New York Times he caught the shooter walking towards the terrace where customers had taken refuge. As the suspect lay on the ground, this ex-soldier took his gun and hit him on the head.
Meanwhile, details have emerged about the suspect’s chaotic life, whose parents were drug addicts and who had an unstable childhood.