Public defender records identify Club Q shooting suspect as nonbinary; virtual court appearance set for Wednesday

Nick Sullivan, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Updated ·2 min read

Nov. 22—The suspect in Saturday night's Club Q shooting has been booked into the El Paso County jail, according to jail records and a tweet from Colorado Springs police on Tuesday.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was turned over to sheriff's officers at the jail by Colorado Springs police. Aldrich had been detained at the hospital, according to police, and is facing 10 arrest-only charges — five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of bias-motivated crimes causing bodily injury. They are being held without bond.

Aldrich is scheduled to make a virtual appearance for an advisement hearing at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in 4th Judicial District Court.

There is no date set for Aldrich's first in-person court appearance.

Aldrich's lawyer is listed in court records as Joseph M. Archambault, who is the chief trial deputy for the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. Records show that Archambault filed six motions to the court on behalf of Aldrich on Tuesday.

The motions filed by the defense, which were released to the public on Tuesday night, address Aldrich as "Mx. Aldrich" which is the title given to those who are considered nonbinary.

The six motions filed by the defense include a motion to unseal the arrest affidavit for the defense, a motion to limit pretrial public comment, a motion to provide ongoing disclosures to the defense, a motion for the court to prohibit ex parte search warrants by law enforcement, a motion for preservation of discoverable materials, and a motion demanding a preliminary hearing.

The shooting just before midnight Saturday left five people dead and 18 others injured. On Monday, police announced the names of the five killed in the shooting: Jeff Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Vance.

Aldrich was injured while being subdued by two bystanders, Thomas James and Richard Fierro, inside of Club Q, police said.

According to the booking details from the El Paso County jail, Aldrich is 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 260 pounds.