Police: 5 dead, 18 hurt in Colorado gay nightclub shooting

https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f

Police identified the gunman as Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was in custody and being treated for injuries. A man with the same name and age was arrested in 2021 after his mother reported he threatened her with “a homemade bomb, multiple weapons and ammunition,” according to authorities.

Anderson Lee Aldrich: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know https://heavy.com/news/anderson-lee-aldrich/

Aldrich is the grandson of outgoing Republican state Rep. Randy Voepel, the former mayor of Santee, California. There were calls to expel Voepel from the state Assembly after he made comments comparing the January 6 attacks to the Revolutionary War. Aldrich’s mother, Laura Voepel, has written posts praising Randy Voepel on Facebook and confirming he is her father.

“This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny,” Randy Voepel, who was defeated in a Republican primary in August 2022, said in a San Diego Union-Tribune article three days after January 6. “Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear-in on January 20th.” According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Voepel “later tweeted that he condemned violence and lawlessness.”

Facebook posts made by his mother reveal he had been dealing with mental health issues. She posted often about her son in a Facebook group for women involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Colorado Springs area.

“A drag dancer stomped on the gunman with her high heels”

This, right here, would make a great statue.