Colorado Springs, CO – Just days before the second anniversary of a devastating mass shooting at Club Q, a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs, lawsuits have been filed by both victims and their families alleging negligence against the club and the local sheriff’s office. The legal actions focus heavily on security oversights and a failure to implement Colorado’s red-flag law to prevent the shooter from accessing weapons.
The two lawsuits filed on Sunday claim that the tragedy on November 19, 2022, which saw five lives lost, could have been averted if the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office had invoked the state’s red-flag law following clear indications of the perpetrator’s violent intentions. The complaints also argue that the nightclub falsely marketed itself as a secure haven for LGBTQIA+ individuals, a promise that was fatally undermined on the night of the attack.
Central to the lawsuits are criticisms of El Paso County officials and the then-sheriff for not enforcing the red-flag law. This legislation, enacted in 2019, authorizes law enforcement to temporarily seize firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. Despite this, El Paso County soon declared itself a “Second Amendment sanctuary,” opposing the law under claims that it infringed on gun rights and overlooked mental health considerations.
Controversially, the county’s resistance to the red-flag law had no official legal authority, creating ambiguity over its impact on law enforcement practices. Notably, a year before the attack, the shooter, Anderson Aldrich, was arrested after threatening to kill their grandparents and cautioning them against interfering with a plan to become the “next mass killer.” At the time, Aldrich began accumulating ammunition, firearms, bomb-making materials, and body armor.
Despite these warnings, authorities did not seize Aldrich’s weapons after the 2021 arrest, according to the lawsuits. The lack of action purportedly facilitated Aldrich’s continued access to firearms which were used in the Club Q attack. In 2022, charges against Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, were dismissed due to lack of cooperation from their family in the prosecution process.
These legal proceedings have been brought forth by multiple plaintiffs, including survivor Barrett Hudson, who still carries three bullets from the shooting. The plaintiffs are expected to publicly address these issues at a news conference coinciding with the attack’s anniversary.
In addition, accusations have surfaced against the nightclub’s management for reducing the security staff extensively—from five or more personnel to just one in the years leading up to the incident—allegedly compromising safety to cut costs.
Currently, Aldrich, 24, has faced judicial proceedings resulting in a life sentence in 2023 for five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder at the state level. Subsequently, Aldrich admitted guilt to hate crimes at a federal level and received 55 additional life sentences.
Victims of the tragedy were Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, and Ashley Paugh. Their deaths have now become a focal point in ongoing debates about gun laws and LGBTQIA+ safety, underpinned by these recent lawsuits which seek accountability and aim to prevent similar future tragedies.