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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Abené Clayton and agencies

Colorado Springs shooter had allegedly threatened his mother with a bomb. Why could he still get a gun?

People place flowers at a memorial outside of Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
People place flowers at a memorial outside of Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photograph: Parker Seibold/AP

A year and a half before Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested as a suspect in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting that left five people dead, he allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, forcing neighbors in surrounding homes to evacuate while the bomb squad and crisis negotiators talked him into surrendering.

Ring doorbell video obtained by the Associated Press shows Aldrich arriving at his mother’s front door with a big black bag on the day of the 2021 bomb threat, telling her the police were nearby and adding: “This is where I stand. Today I die.”

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