Club Q shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich had rainbow-coloured gun target at home, court hears
Suspected Club Q shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich owned a rainbow-coloured gun target (Colorado Springs Police Department)
Suspected Club Q shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich owned a rainbow-coloured gun target, court testimony has revealed.
The 22-year-old is accused of killing five people and injuring 22 others during a mass shooting at LGBTQ+ venue Club Q in Colorado Springs on 9 November 2022.
Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; Derrick Rump, 38; and Raymond Green Vance, 22, were all killed during the incident.
Aldrich, who claims to be non-binary, is facing 323 criminal charges in connection with the shooting, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and bias-motivated crimes.
On Wednesday (February 22), the first day of a three-day evidentiary hearing to support prosecutors’ allegation the shooting was a hate crime, Colorado Springs police testified Aldrich owned a rainbow coloured gun target.
As the Denver Post reported, the rainbow-coloured target was found in Aldrich’s mother’s bedroom, in the apartment they shared.
Photographs shown in court revealed that the target had the silhouette of a person’s head and shoulders, with rainbow-coloured stripes around the silhouette.
Investigators also said they found gunmaking materials, receipts for weapons and a drawing of the club in the apartment.
During the court hearing surveillance footage was shared which showed Aldrich entering the club wearing a red T-shirt and tan ballistic vest while holding an AR-style rifle before opening fire in the venue.
The whole of the attack was captured on CCTV, prosecutors have said, the Associated Press reported.
Club Q police officer: ‘I could hear people screaming, crying’
Crime scene photos also published in court showed a lone shoe, a bloody rainbow suspender, a tooth in the snow and a yellow hoop earring.
This was alongside an overturned table, wall covered in bullet holes, cartridge casings and magazines of ammunition.
The Denver Post published quotes from Colorado Springs police officer Connor Wallick who told the court he was one of the first to arrive on the scene.
“I could hear people screaming, crying,” Wallick testified. “I could smell a lot of gunpowder. You could hear the music that was still going.”
Fourth judicial district judge Michael McHenry will decide whether there is enough evidence to charge with hate crime offences at the end of the hearing.
The case continues.
