![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/11/22/09/AFP_32PX3G3.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp)
Army veteran gives account of tackling Colorado Springs gunman
Colorado Springs shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich wanted to be the “next mass killer” and go out “in a blaze”, according to past arrest records.
Over one year before the 22-year-old allegedly killed five victims in a mass shooting at LGBT+ nightclub Club Q, Aldrich was arrested for making an alleged bomb threat. No charges were filed, and the case was sealed.
Records have surfaced showing that the accused shooter’s grandmother told police that they said they were “going to be the next mass killer and has been collecting ammunition, firearms, bullet-proof body armour and storing it in the basement of the residence”.
Aldrich, who allegedly identifies as nonbinary, is now facing preliminary charges including five counts of murder along with five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury over Saturday night’s massacre.
Aldrich’s father has sparked outrage after he said his first reaction on being informed of the mass shooting was to question why his child was at a gay bar.