On Nov. 19, 2022, a person with an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon, a handgun, and extra ammunition began shooting contained in the gay nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The incident left five people dead and 17 others injured.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was being held on suspicion of murder and hate crime, The Associated Press reported.
Within the aftermath of the incident, some reports said said Aldrich was the grandson of California State Assemblyman and Vietnam War veteran Randy Voepel.
Voepel is a Republican who’s serving the last days of his term after losing his bid for reelection. He represents California’s 71st Assembly District, which incorporates portions of Riverside County and San Diego County.
The Denver Gazette reported it was able to substantiate the link between Aldrich and Voepel through correspondence with a relative who wished to stay anonymous. The Gazette also studied Facebook posts that were said to have connected the dots between Aldrich, his mother (Laura), and her father, Voepel.
Sacramento-based KCRA-TV published much the identical, reporting that it had verified Aldrich was Voepel’s grandson. The story said that sources told KCRA-TV that Aldrich and his grandfather had not had a familial relationship for around a decade.
Moreover, Heavy.com, CNN.com, and The Guardian reported that they had established that Aldrich was Voepel’s grandson.
The Recent York Times also published that Laura was Aldrich’s mother but didn’t mention the California state assemblyman. Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported details about Aldrich’s previous run-in with the law, which involved a bomb threat, his mother, and apparent inaction by authorities within the months following the incident:
A yr and a half before he was arrested within the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting that left five people dead, Anderson Lee Aldrich 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.
Yet despite that scare, there is not any public record that prosecutors moved forward with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Aldrich, or that police or relatives tried to trigger Colorado’s “red flag” law that might have allowed authorities to seize the weapons and ammo the person’s mother says he had with him.
Gun control advocates say Aldrich’s June 2021 threat is an example of a red flag law ignored, with potentially deadly consequences. While it isn’t clear the law could have prevented Saturday night’s attack — such gun seizures could be in effect for as little as 14 days and be prolonged by a judge in six-month increments — they are saying it could have not less than slowed Aldrich and raised his profile with law enforcement.
Based on the San Diego Union-Tribune, Voepel previously got here under fire for remarks he made in the times following the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. “That is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny,” Voepel said on the time. “Tyranny will follow within the aftermath of the Biden swear-in on January twentieth.”
He later tweeted an announcement where he appeared to walk back the remarks. It read, partly, “I don’t condone or support the violence and lawlessness that took place.”
A previous tweet from 2017 also indicated that Voepel was a supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
We reached out to Voepel to ask questions and can update this story if any further developments come to light.
Sources:
August, J. W., and Tom Jones. “False Allegations of ‘Stolen Valor’ Raised Against Assemblyman Randy Voepel.” NBC 7 San Diego, 16 Apr. 2018, https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/false-allegations-of-stolen-valor-raised-against-assemblyman-randy-voepel/45182/.
Brennan, Charlie, et al. “Club Q Suspect Appears to Have Been Accused of Threatening Mother With Bomb.” The Recent York Times, 20 Nov. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/us/colorado-springs-shooting-suspect-charges.html.
Condon, Bernard, and Colleen Slevin. “Gay Club Shooting Suspect Evaded Colorado’s Red Flag Gun Law.” The Associated Press, 21 Nov. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/gun-violence-shootings-colorado-politics-springs-ee6fe797a50cfca1bccfcc051c588187.
Levine, Sam. “At Least Five People Killed in Shooting at Gay Nightclub in Colorado Springs.” The Guardian, 20 Nov. 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/20/people-killed-shooting-at-colorado-springs-nightclub.
McBride, Jessica. “Anderson Lee Aldrich: 5 Fast Facts You Have to Know.” Heavy.com, 20 Nov. 2022, https://heavy.com/news/anderson-lee-aldrich/.
Nevins, Brooke, and Carol McKinley. “Anderson Lee Aldrich, Colorado Springs Mass Shooting Suspect, May Have Had Earlier Run-Ins with Police.” Colorado Springs Gazette, 20 Nov. 2022, https://gazette.com/news/crime/anderson-lee-aldrich-colorado-springs-mass-shooting-suspect-may-have-had-earlier-run-ins-with/article_5b7f1478-68f5-11ed-ac02-d730cef006ab.html.
Peipert, Thomas, and Jesse Bedayn. “Gay Bar Shooting Suspect Faces Murder, Hate Crime Charges.” The Associated Press, 21 Nov. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-gun-politics-springs-7f079c7feebc32cc8ad46f2724844c18.
“Randy Voepel.” Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Randy_Voepel.
Sharp, Rachel. “Colorado Shooting Suspect Is Grandson of GOP Lawmaker Who Celebrated January 6 Riot.” The Independent, 21 Nov. 2022, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/colorado-shooting-anderson-lee-aldrich-randy-voepel-b2229836.html.
Voepel, Randy. Twitter, 11 Jan. 2021, https://twitter.com/randyvoepel/status/1348694891811852289.
—. Twitter, 20 Jan. 2017, https://twitter.com/randyvoepel/status/822516518923554817.
Warth, Gary. “Group Wants Assemblyman Voepel Expelled for Comments on Capitol Riot.” San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2021, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2021-01-12/group-wants-assemblyman-voepel-expelled-for-comments-on-capitol-riot.
Wolfe, Elizabeth, and Dakin Andone. “What We Know in regards to the Suspect within the Colorado Springs LGBTQ Nightclub Shooting.” CNN.com, 21 Nov. 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/us/anderson-lee-aldrich-colorado-springs-shooting-suspect/index.html.
Zavala, Ashley. “Colorado Shooter Is the Biological Grandson of California Assemblyman, Sources Confirm.” KCRA, 22 Nov. 2022, https://www.kcra.com/article/colorado-shooter-is-the-biological-grandson-of-california-assemblyman-randy-voepel-sources-confirm/42029504.
