Anderson Lee Aldrich's grandfather is outgoing California State Representative Randy Voepel, a MAGA-supporter who has compared the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to the American Revolutionary War.
The man suspected of entering an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with an AR-style and fatally shooting five and injuring dozens of others had already been on police radar when he went on his alleged rampage.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was ordered out of a house after allegedly threatening his mother with a homemade bomb a year and a half ago, officials said.
After Aldrich’s mother reportedly called the police saying her son was threatening her with an explosive device that he made himself, he allegedly took to Facebook to livestream amid the standoff with authorities in the June 2021 incident.
Exclusive video obtained by Inside Edition shows Aldrich informing his mother the house was surrounded.
A tense, two-hour standoff followed before Aldrich, barefoot, came out of the house with his hands up.
“Police knocked on the door and told us to evacuate,” Lara Quinn, who lived next door, tells Inside Edition.
Aldrich was charged with felony menacing and first-degree kidnapping, charges that were later dropped. No bomb was found at the home.
His arrest in connection to the bomb threat would not have shown up in background checks ran to purchase firearms because the records in the bomb threat arrest were sealed, law enforcement sources told CNN. Records do indicate Aldrich allegedly purchased the weapons used in the attack on Club Q. Police said two firearms were recovered at the scene, including a long rifle Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said in an interview with CNN was an AR-style weapon, and a handgun. The long rifle was the main weapon used in the attack, Vasquez said.
Police received several 911 calls about the shooting beginning at 11:56 p.m. local time. Officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m. and an officer arrived at Club Q at midnight, officials said. The suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said. The rampage stopped after only several minutes because club patrons were able to subdue the suspect, police said.
“At least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect and were able to stop the suspect,” Vasquez said. “We owe them a great debt of thanks.”
Matthew Haynes, one of the club’s owners, told The New York Times one customer “took down the gunman and was assisted by another.”
“He saved dozens and dozens of lives,” Haynes said of the first man who stopped the gunman. “Stopped the man cold. Everyone else was running away, and he ran toward him.” One of the people who stopped the shooting was among those injured, but the injury was not life-threatening. The second person who helped stop the shooter was not injured, Vasquez told CNN Monday.
Authorities say Aldrich, whose grandfather is outgoing California State Representative Randy Voepel, a MAGA-supporter who has compared the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to the American Revolutionary War, will face five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury in connection to the shooting this weekend.
The five victims killed and the 25 wounded at the nightclub were remembered at the American Music Awards, which were hosted by Wayne Brady.
“On the heels of the tragedy that happened at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is and how important our community is,” Best New Artist Dove Cameron said.
Seven of the survivors were listed in critical condition. A police spokesperson said there was “reason to hope” all the injured will recover.
