Aldrich, 22, is accused of opening fire in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub just before midnight Saturday, killing five people and injuring 18 others. Police arrested Aldrich at the scene of the shooting, which remains under investigation.
In the days following the shooting, details have emerged about Aldrich and his family, casting light on his upbringing.
Court records from Bexar County, Texas, indicate that Voepel was arrested on an arson charge in 2012 when Aldrich was not yet a teenager. It was unclear whether or not Aldrich was living with his mother at the time of the arrest.
The charge was later reduced to a lesser criminal mischief charge, and she was granted probation in August 2013 that went on to expire five years later in 2018, according to the court documents.
More details surrounding the exact nature of her case remained slim.
Aldrich was previously arrested in June 2021 after Voepel allegedly reported that he threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons.
Video of the arrest, which didn’t appear to trigger Colorado’s red flag laws, circulated on social media following the deadly shooting. In the clip, Aldrich is seen stepping outside of a house with his hands raised and appeared to comply with the requests of police.
“The reporting party said her son was threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition. The reporting party was not in the home at the time when she made the call and was not sure where her son was,” the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a statement at the time.
Aldrich’s grandfather—and Voepel’s father—Randy Voepel serves as a Republican California assemblyman. He has faced criticism for comments relating to the January 6 Capitol riot, comparing it to the American Revolutionary War.
In April 2020, Laura Voepel said in a Facebook post: “Keep up the work dad. You work hard to improve our lives and a lot of us take notice.”
Colorado Springs Shooter May Face ‘Bias-Motivated Crime’ Charges
The Colorado Springs shooting has drawn national rebuke and mourning for the shooting victims.
Aldrich is facing five counts of murder charges, as well as five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, according to the Associated Press. The charges are preliminary and have not been officially filed, and the bias-motivated charges would require police to prove the shooting was motivated by bias against the victims’ perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
In the shooting’s aftermath, many have condemned anti-LGBTQ rhetoric pushed by some right-wingers in recent months. Many members of the LGBTQ community have sounded the alarm about rising homophobia or transphobia potentially resulting in increased violence.
Colorado Springs law enforcement praised two “heroes” at the club who reportedly helped stop the suspected shooter from attacking more individuals.
“Their exact actions are part of the investigation, so we can’t discuss the specifics out of respect for the judicial process, but with their permission, we want to acknowledge their heroic actions. They are Thomas James And Richard Fierro,” police tweeted.
