Club Q Gunman Pleads Guilty to Killing 5 People in LGBTQ Nightclub Shooting

Seven months after killing five people and wounding 25 others by opening fire on an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Anderson Lee Aldrich accepted a plea deal Monday that will see them spend the rest of their life behind bars.

Aldrich, 23, appeared in El Paso County Court in Colorado Springs Monday morning for their arraignment.

Since the Nov. 19 shooting, Aldrich has identified as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Aldrich reiterated they are nonbinary during Monday's hearing.

Aldrich pleaded guilty or no contest Monday to five counts of first-degree murder, 46 counts of first-degree attempted murder, and two counts of bias-motivated crimes. Aldrich had been facing more than 300 murder and hate-related charges.

During the attack on Club Q, five people were killed and 25 more sustained injuries. The mass shooting ended when a patron disarmed the shooter, and pinned them down until police officers arrived.

Those killed in the mass shooting were Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, and Raymond Green Vance.

Aldrich — appearing in court with a shaved head in an untucked grey shirt and matching tie — will serve a mandatory life sentence for their crimes. Speaking at Monday's hearing, Aldrich admitted to "intentionally and after deliberation" carrying out the mass shooting, but did not concede that bias drove their violent actions.

In recent months, Aldrich has expressed remorse for the shootings in interviews with the Associated Press, claiming they were abusing steroids.

Some survivors believe Aldrich's repentance is inauthentic and does not correspond with evidence pointing to months of premeditation and Aldrich's alleged operation of a neo-Nazi website.