Colorado Springs, CO: The shooter who killed 5 people at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs appeared in court on Tuesday and was charged with hate crime offenses. The shooting incident put 40 other people at risk.
Records show that Anderson Aldrich, who is 23 years old, made a deal with officials to plead guilty to 50 hate crime charges and 24 gun violations. After a judge approves the suggested agreement, Aldrich would get several life sentences in addition to the 190-year sentence.
The court made the Jan. 9 plea deal public after Aldrich pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon. According to the deal, the strongest punishment for the gun charges is death.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said that Aldrich was moved to the Wyoming State Penitentiary last year because of safety fears related to the high-profile case. Later, Aldrich pleaded guilty in state court to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder, one for each person at Club Q during the attack on November 19, 2022. The new charges include multiple federal firearm crimes.
Additionally, Aldrich, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, entered a plea deal to not fight hate crimes charges brought by the state. By pleading guilty, Aldrich admitted that he was likely to be found guilty of the crimes he admitted to committing.