Colorado Springs shooting suspect transferred from hospital to jail

The suspect in a mass shooting that killed five and injured 17 attendees at a gay club in Colorado Springs was transferred to jail Tuesday from the hospital where he was in custody. The suspect will appear in court Wednesday.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, faced preliminary charges, including five counts of first-degree murder and hate crimes. The prosecutor’s office said formal criminal charges will be filed against Aldrich after he is released from the hospital.

The suspect is scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday morning via video link from jail for a hearing in his case.

Although officials are not giving details about his injuries, it is known that the suspect was beaten by Richard Fierro, a former Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who was thus able to stop further bloodshed at Club Q in Colorado’s second-largest city.

Fierro, 44, said he attacked the shooter and took his gun from him to force the man to comply, adding that he was assisted by another man who kicked the shooter after taking his rifle from him.

Police gave the name of the second man as Thomas James, an 11-year U.S. Navy veteran. He was wounded in the shooting and hospitalized in stable condition, the Navy said in a statement.

Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 after his mother reported that he threatened to detonate a bomb and harm her with several weapons. This is according to a press release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

At age 15, while living in Texas, the suspect legally changed his name from Nicholas Franklin Brink to Anderson Lee Aldrich “to protect himself and his future from any association with his biological father and his criminal history,” the Denver Post reported, citing court records.

The Washington Post story, based on court documents, describes Aldrich’s life: his parents separated when he was very young, and when he was 12, his mother was arrested on suspicion of arson but later convicted of a less serious crime. .

Like the police, the White House did not call the mass shooting a hate crime, but the administration said the unrest occurred amid a polarized political climate in which LGBTQ rights are threatened.

“This attack also occurred against a backdrop of increased aggressive rhetoric and threats against LGBTQI+ people across the country,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing, and echoed President Joe Biden’s call for an assault rifle ban.

Jean-Pierre also paid tribute to the five dead, providing brief details about each of them.

The shooting victims were 40-year-old Kelly Loving, 28-year-old Daniel Aston, 38-year-old Derrick Rump, 34-year-old Ashley Powe and 22-year-old Raymond Green Vance.

A White House spokeswoman called Fierro and James “heroes,” expressing gratitude for their swift action, adding that Biden spoke to Fierro, thanking him “for his bravery,” and offering condolences for the death of Vance, their daughter’s boyfriend. The Fierro family, Raymond Vance and their friends went to Club Q to celebrate their birthday.

The city of Colorado Springs announced that a 7.6-foot LGBT flag will be erected on the front of City Hall on Wednesday in memory of the victims.