COLORADO SPRINGS, NOVEMBER 2022, 5 DEAD, 19 INJURED
Aldrich, pictured in a sketch on November 23, is accused of killing five people in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting
Five people were slaughtered and dozens injured at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs after a gunman opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, the non-binary 22-year-old charged over the shooting, ran a neo-Nazi website and used gay and racial slurs while gaming online, police have said.
He also posted an image of a rifle scope trained on a gay pride parade and used a bigoted slur when referring to someone who was gay, Detective Rebecca Joines said.
scanning technology showed Aldrich had been to the club at least six times before the shooting
On the night of the shooting, according to authorities, Aldrich went to the club, left and then returned. Surveillance video showed Aldrich entering the club wearing a red T-shirt and tan ballistic vest while holding an AR-style rifle, with six magazines for the weapon and a pistol visible, police Detective Jason Gasper said. Soon after entering, Aldrich allegedly opened fire indiscriminately.
The shooting was stopped when Navy information systems technician Thomas James grabbed the barrel of Aldrich’s rifle, burning his hand it was so hot.
At Aldrich’s apartment, investigators found gun-making materials, receipts for weapons and a drawing of the club.
It was also revealed that the rifle and the handgun used in the attack appeared to be ghost guns.
Defense attorneys also brought up Aldrich’s mental health for the first time at a hearing in February, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD. But the defense didn’t say if Aldrich had been formally diagnosed with any of those mental illnesses.
DENVER, DECEMBER 2021, 5 DEAD, 2 INJURED
McLeod, 47, owned a tattoo parlor in Denver until 2017. He then relocated to a converted shipping container
A former tattoo shop owner with a history of extremist views and psychiatric episodes shot dead five people in Denver before being shot and killed by officers at the end of his rampage.
Lyndon McLeod, 47, targeted several tattoo shops, and three of his five victims worked in the industry.
Police said they believe McLeod was targeting the people he shot at the tattoo parlors, although they did not release a motive.
Paul Pazen, chief of Denver Police, said McLeod had been on the radar of law enforcement during two recent investigations – one in 2020 and another in 2021 – but neither resulted in charges.
Police said McLeod fired shots at six locations across Denver and the nearby suburb of Lakewood.
His rampage left five people dead and three others wounded – among them a police officer – before he was shot dead.
McLeod sold his house five years ago to a man who said the property was full of gun safes.
KING SOOPERS SUPERMARKET, BOULDER, MARCH 2021, 10 DEAD
State experts have concluded that suspected mass shooter Ahmad Alissa, pictured in court on September 7, suffers from a mental health condition and is not competent to stand trial
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 23, is accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in the college town of Boulder.
Customers, workers and a police officer who rushed in to try to stop the attack were slaughtered.
Alissa, who lived in the nearby suburb of Arvada, surrendered after another officer shot and wounded him, authorities said.
Alissa is charged with murder and multiple attempted murder counts for also endangering the lives of 26 other people. He has not been asked yet to enter a plea and his lawyers have not commented about the allegations.
Investigators have not revealed a possible motive. They said Alissa passed a background check to legally buy a Ruger AR-556 pistol six days before the shooting.
At a hearing in February, his lawyers confirmed he has schizophrenia, with one expert finding he was ‘approaching catatonia’ before being moved to the state mental hospital for treatment.
WALMART IN THORNTON, NOVEMBER 2017, 3 DEAD
Scott Allen Ostrem, 48, admitted fatally shooting three people inside a Denver-area Walmart
Scott Allen Ostrem, 48, admitted fatally shooting three people inside a Denver-area Walmart under a deal that allowed him to avoid execution.
Ostrem strolled into the crowded Walmart with a handgun on Nov. 1, 2017, and killed the three people as they stood in a checkout lane, police said.
No one else was struck by gunfire.
Ostrem fled the store and was arrested outside his apartment the next day after police identified him and his car from images captured by security cameras.
No motive for the shootings was ever presented in court.