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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Io Dodds

Colorado shooting suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich released from hospital and transferred to jail

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The man suspected of murdering five people at an LGBT+ nightclub in Colorado Springs has been released from hospital and transferred to jail, according to reports.

Reuters said on Tuesday that Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, had been discharged from a hospital where he was in police custody on suspicion of murder and "bias crimes".

A tweet from the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) confirmed that the suspect had been transferred to jail under the custody of the local county sheriff’s department.

Police have named Mr Aldrich as the man who walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs on Saturday night and began shooting at patrons with a semi-automatic rifle, killing five people and wounding 17..

He has not yet been formally charged with a crime, and is scheduled to go before a judge via video link on Wednesday morning.

Although officials did not give any details about Mr Aldrich's injuries, witnesses said that the shooter was forcibly subdued and beaten by a group of patrons led by local Army veteran Richard Fierro.

News of the attack sent ripples of mourning and anger across the US LGBT+ community, which has been targeted this year with escalating calls for violence as well as hate crimes, harassment, and bomb threats.

Officials have not yet announced any known motive for the shooting, and have said that the formal charges against Mr Aldrich may differ from his initial arrest booking.

"Any charges associated with an arrest warrant are only preliminary charges," said district attorney Michael Allen on Monday. "So don't be surprised when you see a different list of charges when we finally file formal charges with the court."

Reporters have so far uncovered only patchy details of Mr Aldrich's life history. He was arrested last June on suspicion of making bomb threats against his mother, but the case was dropped for unknown reasons.

Public records reportedly show that he legally changed his name from Nicholas Brink to Anderson Lee Aldrich at the age of 15 "to protect himself and his future from any connections to birth father and his criminal history".

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