Judge unseals records of alleged Colorado shooter’s earlier bomb threat

A judge has ordered the unsealing of documents from the 2021 arrest of the Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ bar shooter, following a bomb threat and standoff with authorities.

Judge Robin Chittum said the public interest in the case outweighed the privacy rights of the defendant, Anderson Lee Aldrich.

Five people were killed and 17 wounded at Club Q in Colorado Springs in November, before the shooter was beaten into submission by people at the club.

Aldrich faces 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder charges.

In June 2021, Aldrich was arrested on allegations of making a bomb threat that led to the evacuation of about 10 homes.

Aldrich, who uses they/them pronouns and is nonbinary according to their attorneys, had threatened to harm their own family and boasted of having bomb making materials, ammunition and multiple weapons, according to law enforcement documents. They were booked into jail on suspicion of felony menacing and kidnapping.

The case was later dropped and officials to date have refused to speak about what happened, citing a Colorado law that calls for dismissed cases to be sealed to prevent people from having their lives ruined if cases are never prosecuted.

But the prior arrest and statements by Aldrich that foretold last month's mass shooting have raised questions over why authorities didn't seek to seize Aldrich's guns under Colorado's "red flag" law.

Aldrich also was the subject of a tip received by the FBI a day before the bomb threat. Agents closed out the case just weeks later.

The judge's order to release the records came after news organizations including the Associated Press sought to unseal the documents from the 2021 arrest.

Chittum ruled despite objections from the suspect's attorney and mother.

Joseph Archambault, a public defender, argued that while the public has an interest in the case, Aldrich's right to a fair trial is paramount.

"This will make sure there is no presumption of innocence," said Archambault.

An attorney for Aldrich's mother argued that unsealing the case would increase the likelihood that Laura Voepel would suffer harm, harassment, intimidation or retaliation.

Aldrich's attorneys told the judge they would file a contempt of court motion against the sheriff's office over an AP story that detailed what was in some of the sealed documents.

The documents were obtained by a Colorado Springs TV station, KKTV, and verified as authentic to the AP by a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the sealed case and was therefore kept anonymous.

Judge Chittum did not rule on the motion but said she would not let it hold up her decision about unsealing the case.

It was unknown when the unsealed documents will be posted online.