On the second anniversary of the tragic shooting at Club Q, victims and their families have filed two lawsuits against local authorities, accusing them of failing to enforce Colorado’s red flag law, which they argue could have prevented the devastating attack.
The Nov. 19, 2022 shooting at the LGBTQ+ nightclub claimed the lives of five individuals and left 25 others injured. The lawsuits, filed on Tuesday, allege that El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder and the Board of County Commissioners ignored credible warning signs about the shooter’s escalating threats and violent behavior.
At the heart of the legal challenge is Colorado’s red flag law, which empowers courts to remove firearms from individuals deemed to pose a risk to themselves or others. The plaintiffs, including surviving victims and the families of those killed, claim that authorities should have acted on information from as far back as 2021—when Anderson Lee Aldrich, the convicted shooter, was arrested following a series of violent threats. Despite this, the sheriff’s office and the county board did not initiate action under the law, which could have removed Aldrich’s firearms before he carried out his deadly assault at Club Q.
Aldrich, who pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and gun charges, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year after admitting to the 2022 massacre. The shooting occurred during a drag show, when Aldrich entered the club with a semiautomatic rifle and a handgun. The rampage was stopped by two quick-thinking patrons who managed to wrestle the weapons away from Aldrich.
The lawsuits focus on the failure to utilize Colorado’s red flag law after Aldrich’s mother reported in 2021 that her son had made violent threats, including claims of having explosives and multiple firearms. At the time, Aldrich had already been known to local law enforcement, but the case was dismissed after his mother declined to testify.
The plaintiffs argue that Sheriff Elder acted “recklessly and with conscious disregard” by not pursuing the red flag law to disarm Aldrich after the 2021 threats. Furthermore, they accuse the county board of commissioners of undermining the effectiveness of the law by passing a resolution opposing its use in the region.
In response to the lawsuits, neither the El Paso County Sheriff’s office nor the Board of Commissioners has made an official statement.
Colorado’s red flag law, passed in 2020, allows judges to issue temporary orders to confiscate firearms for up to two weeks while a court hearing is scheduled to decide whether the order should be extended for up to a year. Despite its potential, the law has been rarely invoked, with relatively few petitions for gun removals across the state since its enactment.
The Club Q shooting has raised renewed debates about the effectiveness of red flag laws in preventing mass shootings and the responsibility of local authorities to use them proactively. Advocates for gun safety have emphasized the critical role these laws can play in reducing gun violence and preventing tragedies like the one that occurred at Club Q.
As the case moves forward, the plaintiffs seek justice not only for the victims but also for the broader LGBTQ+ community, which has been left shaken by the attack.
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