The person accused of massacring five people in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub appeared dazed and bloodied at their first court appearance Wednesday — where they were ordered held without bond.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22 — who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them – sported a beard and appeared cuffed and slouched in a chair during the video hearing, with their head slumped and resting on their shoulder as if asleep.
“Could the defendant please state his name?” Judge Charlotte Ankeny asked.
“Anderson Aldrich,” they replied weakly.
Aldrich, who appeared bloodied and bruised, sat nearly motionless during the five-minute hearing and only spoke when prompted by two public defenders at their side in El Paso County Jail.
“Anderson Aldrich, did you watch the video concerning your constitutional rights in this case?” the judge asked.
“Yes,” Aldrich replied in a whisper after a lengthy pause.
“Do you have any questions about those rights?” the judge said.
Aldrich didn’t respond for several seconds before replying, “No.”
The judge ordered Aldrich held without bond until their next court appearance on Dec. 6.
Twitter user @Breaking911 posted a mugshot of the suspect.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1595530109653508111Aldrich will likely be slapped with murder and hate-crime charges, but formal charges have yet to be filed and court records about their arrest have been sealed at the request of prosecutors. Defense attorneys requested to see the arrest records.
The suspect is accused of marching into Club Q just before midnight Saturday and spraying gunfire, killing five and wounding more than a dozen others. The alleged shooter’s rampage ended when they were tackled by two people in the club, who disarmed them and held them until cops arrived.
Read the full story here.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.