A judge who dismissed a 2021 kidnapping case against the Colorado gay nightclub shooter warned last year that the defendant had been stockpiling weapons and planning a shootout, and needed mental health treatment or "it's going to be so bad."
"You clearly have been planning for something else," Chittum told Aldrich during the hearing, after the defendant testified about an affinity for shooting firearms and a history of mental health problems. There was no discussion at that July hearing about Aldrich's mental health treatment, violent past, or exploring options to compel Aldrich's grandparents and mother to testify.
Aldrich -- who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, according to defence attorneys -- livestreamed on Facebook a subsequent confrontation with SWAT teams at the house of their mother, Laura Voepel, where the defendant eventually surrendered, was arrested and had weapons seized. The FBI had received a tip on Aldrich a day before the threat but closed out the case just weeks later, and no federal charges were filed.
There is scant discussion in the transcripts of efforts by prosecutors to subpoena other potential witnesses -- including Aldrich's mother, grandfather and a fourth person who is listed in court documents but not identified.
Let us not lay this all at the feet of the police. The judge dismissed the case, because catch and release were more important. I find it strange that if a judge was that worried about a repeat mass shooting, they would you know release the shooter.
l will hand this file over to my Minister ot Tourism after the holidays .
Shooter was non binary.