Club Q shooting suspect opened fire immediately, claimed to have been awake for days, affidavit says

The suspect accused of killing five people in an attack on a Colorado LGBTQ club opened fire almost immediately after arriving, and later claimed to not have slept for days, according to a police affidavit released Wednesday.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including murder and hate crimes, in the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs just before midnight on Nov. 19.

Aldrich arrived feet from the entrance to the club around 11:55 p.m. in a gold Toyota Highlander, and got out of the SUV wearing a ballistic vest and carrying an AR-15 style assault rifle, according to the affidavit. Police were called about a shooting at 11:56 p.m., it says.

“He entered the business and, after entering the business a short distance, he opened fire indiscriminately at patrons inside of the club,” a police detective wrote in the affidavit filed Nov. 20.

The suspect’s lawyer has said in court filings that Aldrich uses they/them pronouns.

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The affidavit contains still images from surveillance video, including one that appears to show the shooter getting out of the SUV in the parking lot, and another that shows the beginning of the shooting, according to the document.

Aldrich was taken down by bystanders, stopping the attack, officials and witnesses have said. Aldrich was injured and taken to a hospital.

At the hospital, a police sergeant and officer told a different detective that “they had overheard Anderson tell medical staff he was sorry and he had been awake for four days,” the affidavit says.

A motive in the attack is not contained in the affidavit.

Those killed ranged in age from 22 to 40. Another 17 people were injured by gunfire, and five others had physical injuries from other causes, officials have said.

Witnesses have credited the fast action of Army veteran Richard Fierro, 45, and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas James for pouncing on the shooter and limiting the carnage.

The charges against Aldrich include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes.