The alleged shooter facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub has been ordered to be held without bail.
The alleged shooter facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub has been ordered to be held without bail.
In an initial court appearance on Wednesday the suspect sat slumped over in a chair with injuries visible on their face and head.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who identifies as non-binary, appeared to need prompting by defence lawyers during a brief video appearance from jail.
Aldrich offered a slurred response when asked to state their name by El Paso County Court Judge Charlotte Ankeny.
The suspect was beaten into submission by patrons during Saturday night’s shooting at Club Q and released from hospital on Tuesday.
The motive in the shooting was still under investigation, but authorities said Aldrich faces possible murder and hate crime charges.
Hate crime charges would require proving that the shooter was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The charges against Aldrich are preliminary, and prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges.
Defence lawyers said late on Tuesday that the suspect is nonbinary and court filings referred to the suspect as “Mx Aldrich”. The lawyers’ footnotes assert that Aldrich is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.
Prosecutor Michael Allen repeatedly referred to the suspect as “he” during a press briefing after the hearing and said the suspect’s gender status would not change anything about the case in his opinion.
