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Colorado Nightclub Shooting Suspect Moved From Hospital to Jail

Published: November 22, 2022
A sign with a rose is displayed on a cross near Club Q (an LGBTQ nightclub) following a mass shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado on November 21, 2022. (Image: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt)


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — The suspect in the mass shooting that killed five people and wounded at least 19 at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub late on Nov. 19 has been transferred from the hospital to jail — where he remains in police custody — officers said on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

“CSPD has turned over custody of the Club Q suspect to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the jail,” the Colorado Springs Police Department said in an announcement on its Twitter page.

Police held Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, on initial charges including five counts of first-degree murder and bias crimes. Prosecutors said that once he was out of the hospital, they expected to file formal criminal charges that may differ. Attorneys said that Aldrich himself is non-binary.

Though officials have not revealed the nature of Aldrich’s injuries, the suspect was pummeled by Richard Fierro, a decorated former Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, in a successful effort to stop the assault at Club Q in Colorado’s second-largest city.

Fierro said he also tackled the gunman and took a pistol from him which he used to beat him into submission, adding that he was aided by another man who removed the shooter’s rifle.

Police identified the second man as Thomas James, who the U.S. Navy on Tuesday identified as one of its sailors.

James, a Navy information systems technician second class, was injured in the Colorado Springs shooting and in stable condition, the Navy said in a statement. It did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

The five victims from the shooting were identified as: Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, Derrick Rump and Ashley Green Paugh.

Reuters contributed to this report.