Grandfather of Colorado gay bar shooter ‘is MAGA California lawmaker who hailed January 6 riots’

The grandfather of the man alleged to be behind the mass-shooting at a Colorado gay bar this weekend is believed to be a MAGA Republican lawmaker who praised the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol last year.  

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, is accused of killing five people and injuring 25 more at the gay bar. 

Posts on social media posts made under Aldrich’s mother’s name, Laura Voepel, have linked him to former Republican California state assembly member Randy Voepel – claiming he is his grandfather, reports The Guardian.

Following the attack on the Capitol, Voepel hailed the rioters comparing their actions to that of American Revolutionaries. 

‘This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny. Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear in on January 20th,’ Voepel said.

Voepel, as a member of the California State Assembly from the 71st district represented most of inland San Diego County and part of Riverside County, but he lost his seat to a primary challenger in August. 

Voepel later tweeted that he ‘condemned violence and lawlessness.’ 

The former mayor of Santee, California at one point left the Republican party for the tea party movement because he deemed the GOP too ‘liberal.’ 

Later on Sunday, two bartenders killed in the deadly mass shooting at a LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs were pictured – hours after police confirmed the arrest of Aldrich, whose mugshot has not yet been released.

Derrick Rump and Daniel Aston were among the five killed Saturday night at Club Q in what appeared to be a premediated attack, carried out by a single gunman armed with an AR-15.

Both men worked as bartenders at the establishment and are so far the only two named victims of the attack – which occurred on the eve of The Transgender Day of Remembrance, at 11:57pm. Aston, 28, was a trans man.

Pictures of others caught up and injured during the shooting have also been emerging including Charlene and James Slaugh.

Charlene was shot in the abdomen and suffered a collapsed lung after being shot 13 times. She is fighting for her life having undergone the first of what is likely to be numerous surgeries, with a long road to recovery ahead.

On Sunday night her mother reported her being on a ventilator but in stable condition. 

James was shot in the shoulder and is expected to recover following shoulder surgery on Sunday. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay their medical bills.

His partner was shot in the leg and is also expected to fully recover. James and his partner met at Club Q and had always considered it a safe space.

Tara Bush, aka DJ T-Beatz, who is one of the dozens of injured victims in the nightclub shooting. 

Bush is currently still in the hospital, ABC News reported. 

As investigators attempted to piece together what led to the tragedy, on Sunday it also emerged how last June, Aldrich, had been accused of threatening to blow up his mother’s home with a makeshift bomb. 

Luckily his mother, Laura, was able to escape and alerted police while driving to safety away from her Colorado Springs home. 

Officers found Aldrich who was seen walking out on the street about one mile from the house. He ignored police orders and managed to evade the arrest.

There was finally a stand-off between police officers and the bomb squad at the home before Aldrich walked out and surrendered after an hour of negotiations.

When the bomb squad went into the residence they were unable to find any explosives.

He was arrested and charged with two felony menacing charges after the police had to evacuate all the residents within quarter mile radius of the home, leading to the entire neighborhood having to be evacuated.

The charges were later dropped and the records were sealed.

The incident has raised questions about Colorado’s red flag law, which empowers authorities to temporarily seize firearms from an individual determined as a potential threat to the community. 

His own mother, Laura Voepel is believed to have posted requests for help on Facebook including trauma and PTSD therapist together with recommendations for a boxing coach. 

PICTURED: Two bartenders among five killed and 25 wounded in mass shooting at gay club by suspect brandishing an AR-15 who was known to authorities after bomb threat last year: FBI join probe and police mull hate crime charges

The shooting is now being investigated as a hate crime – with sole suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, currently in police custody.

Police have also revealed that Aldrich was subdued by at least two heroic patrons who confronted him during the mayhem, and are credited with saving lives. At least five were confirmed Sunday to be among the dead, with a further 25 injured.  

As cops look to glean a motive for the tragedy, relatives and members of the LGBTQ community affected by the horrors have offered heartfelt tributes for those slain – with Rump and Aston the first to be named.

Aldrich, meanwhile, remains in custody at a local hospital for unknown injuries. He was previously arrested in June 2021 for a bomb threat but was never formally charged. It is not clear when he was apprehended by lawmen.

A worker at Club Qu, which is billed as a ‘happening gay nightclub’ on its website, paid tribute to his two slain colleagues Sunday, sharing a picture of Rump and Aston to Facebook.

The post featured a photo of the pair behind Club Q’s bar, as well as an accompanying caption mourning the loss.

‘My boys are gone,’ the tribute read. ‘Plz (sic) take care of each other. I love you both so much.’

A friend of Rump also posted a tribute to his late friend, who, like Aston, was a member of the local LGBTQ community. 

‘Two beautiful souls were taken from us last night,’ the poster wrote, adding that while he did not know Aston well, ‘both [would] be missed.’

The poster would go on to paint a picture of Rump from accounts of those who knew him, describing him as ‘an amazing person with a big heart.’ 

They went on to cite how Rump, again, like Aston, was ‘active in the local LGBTQ community’ and ‘loved by some of my friends.’

‘My heart hurts for them,’ the mourner wrote, before going on to offer a tribute to Aston, a trans man who recently moved to Colorado from his native Oklahoma and had since blossomed into a beloved stalwart of the local gay and trans communities.

‘Derrick, you always treated me so sweetly and brightened up my days when I’d come out and see you at the Club,’ the poster remembered, writing that Aston ‘always made sure I was taken care of and not just as a bar patron.

‘As a friend. I’ll miss you and your smile that could light up the darkest of your rooms, and your laugh that rubbed off on everyone around you. Love you always. RIP to them both.’

Aston’s mother, Sabrina Aston, described her son to ABC News as the youngest of their family, who was able to make friends quickly after moving because of his magnetic personality. According to his social media, the 28-year-old had his top surgery in 2021.

Another friend remembered both men fondly as ‘two of the sweetest souls I have ever met.’

Bargoer Joshua Thurman survived the deadly attack by hiding in a dressing room with two other scared survivors,  and spoke to reporters about the unrest that transpired after the first shots rang out. 

Thurman, 34, said he had been dancing on the dancefloor when he first heard about four or five gunshots.

‘I thought it was the music because there were no screams, no shouts of ‘Help, help,’ nothing like that,’ he said. ‘Then I heard more shots and saw the flash from the muzzle of the gun.’

‘When I realized what was going on, I ran to the dressing room immediately. There was a customer that followed me, and there was a drag performer, Del Lusional, who was in the dressing room. I made them lock the doors and we got down on the floor and cut out the lights immediately.’

From their hiding spot, Thurman said: ‘We heard everything, we heard more shots fired, we heard the assailant be beat up by someone who I assume tackled him, we heard the police come in, we heard them yelling at him, we heard then saying ‘Check certain people, ’cause they’re critical,’ we heard everything.

‘And all I can think about is everything — my life, just everything, friends, family, loved ones,’ the distraught man said through tears.

By the time they got out of the dressing room, Thurman said he saw bodies on the ground. 

‘There was broken glass, blood — I lost friends!’ 

Thurman said he went to the club Saturday night to celebrate his birthday when a gunman entered the gay nightclub many in Colorado Springs’ LGBTQ community considered ‘like a home’ and started firing an unknown number of bullets from his AR-15-style long rifle.

He was able to kill five people and injure 25 others before he was stopped by two heroic patrons who tackled him to the ground, authorities say.

Early reports suggest the gunman was wearing bulletproof armor at the time. 

‘Their actions clearly saved lives,’ Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said at a news conference Sunday morning, noting that another unidentified firearm was found on the scene. 

Aldrich, 22, was then arrested at the scene and is now in protective custody at a local hospital for unknown injuries. 

The Colorado Springs man was previously arrested for threatening his mom with a homemade bomb in June 2021, but no formal charges were ever made.

Numerous victims, some in critical condition, were transported to three nearby hospitals following the shooting Saturday night.

The names of the victims have not yet been released, pending notification of their loved ones. But the deceased is said to have included at least one bartender.

FBI agents are now assisting Colorado Springs police with the investigation to ‘determine what federal response is warranted.’

Authorities say it is too early to determine if the shooting was a targeted hate crime. 

But the mass shooting has prompted even pro-gun advocate Rep. Lauren Boebert to say: ‘This lawless violence needs to end and end quickly.’ 

Colorado Springs police received initial reports of an active shooting at the club around 11.57pm Saturday night. 

The first officers arrived on the scene within three minutes of the call, and Anderson was detained at 12.02am.

Images from the scene showed multiple security and emergency vehicles with flashing blinkers parked on a street near the venue. 

Clothes were seen strewn along the street Sunday morning, as police continued to scour the site for any evidence.  Homicide investigators will remain at the scene for ‘many, many hours.’ 

Police did not give any information on the motivation behind the attack.

North Academy Boulevard between North Carefree Circle and Village Seven Road will remain closed while officials search the scene. Residents are advised to avoid the area. 

Anyone who witnessed the shooting or has video footage of the attack is also asked to contact the police. 

The shooting comes one year after a 21-year-old man named Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested for making a bomb threat in Colorado Springs.

A woman told police at the time that her son had a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition. 

Nearly 10 homes were evacuated in the aftermath, KRDO reported at the time, but no bombs were found at the scene.

Authorities said at the time that he initially refused to comply with the deputy’s demands to surrender, but following a one-hour standoff he backed down.

Aldrich was booked into the El Paso County Jail facing two counts of felony menacing and three counts of first-degree kidnapping. 

But Aldrich was never formally charged in the threat, and the case was sealed. 

Leslie Bowman told the New York Times that the terrifying incident took place at her home, where she had been renting a spare room to Aldrich’s mother, Laura Voepel. She believed Aldrich was living with his grandparents nearby at the time.

She said she was not home at the time, but received a call from Voepel that said ‘Don’t come home right now, there are some people looking for Andy.’

Bowman kicked Voepel out of the home two days later and had not seen her since. But, she said, about one month ago, police stopped by her house looking for Voepel for a welfare check. 

Bowman now says she remembers Aldric having an ‘aggressive side’ saying he once slammed the door in her face when his mother was upset about a repair in her bathroom.

Following the shooting on Saturday, Bowman wondered why Aldrich was never imprisoned following the threat, noting: ‘After that initial day, police never reached out to me for additional information.

‘I’m a Second Amendment supporter, don’t get me wrong,’ Bowman told the Times. ‘But for him to be out there and have access to weapons after that incident, I don’t understand it.’

Club Q describes itself online as an ‘adult-oriented gay and lesbian nightclub hosting theme nights such as karaoke, drag shows & DJs.’

The club was scheduled to celebrate Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday ‘with a variety of gender identities and performance styles,’ following an all-ages musical drag brunch that morning.

An online review called Club Q a ‘fun, inclusive place to hang out,’ with one visitor saying ‘everyone is so freaking kind,’ while another said that they were ‘glad to see a good queer space in Colorado Springs.’

On its Facebook page, a statement from Club Q said it was ‘devastated by the senseless attack on our community.’

‘Our prays (sic) and thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends,’ the club wrote.

‘We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.’

Frequent clubgoers posted their shock about the shooting on Facebook, with one woman writing: ‘My heart goes out to my Colorado Springs family. My Colorado Springs Drag sisters.

‘I  cannot believe this is happening in a place we call a safe space we had that taken from us tonight. My heart is shattered,’ Carzsa Maestas wrote.

‘Club Q is where I started my Drag career. It’s my home bar. This is absolutely beyond devastating and I pray to God that everyone there tonight is OK.’

Survivors of the rampage have described the bloody scene Aldrich apparently left in his wake.

 Michael Anderson, 25, told the Mirror how he was working at the bar when he first heard the gunshots.

 ‘I saw a person with a gun, and I immediately ducked behind the bar, and glass was flying around me,’ he said.

Anderson then escaped to the outdoor patio, where he found somewhere to hide and hunkered down with two clubgoers. From there, he said, they watched a group flee through a door they had managed to pry open. 

‘I was afraid I was going to die,’ he said. ‘I was prepared to get shot when the shots stopped.

‘After a minute or two, I wasn’t sure if it was over or not so I got up and decided to make a run for it.’

As he ran, Anderson said he saw a man lying on the ground with a potentially fatal neck injury, and when he got inside, he said, he saw ‘two people had seemingly detained someone on the ground and were kicking them and yelling at them.

He then ran behind the bar to grab his belongings before fleeing to his car.

‘The cops arrived in mass numbers by this time,’ Anderson said. ‘I told them I believed the shooter was down on the dance floor and the shots had stopped.

He said he is now praying for the people at the hospital, but said: ‘Our community is strong and remains united. 

‘We ask for your prayers and support.’ 

Angelo Patino, 18, meanwhile, performed a drag show at the club Saturday night but left about half an hour before the shooting. 

‘I am in shock,’ he told the New York Times, noting the club ‘was my safe space.’

‘It hurts me that I could not protect my friends when they needed it,’ he said.

Another man who had left the club just 10 minutes before the shots were fired also told KRDO how he was able to connect with one of his friends who was shot at the hospital.

He told the news station that his friend described the shooter as a man wearing a mask and a bulletproof vest. 

Another of his friends, though, was killed in the massacre.

 ‘It’s hard to hear, it’s hard to see,’ the man, only identified as Joseph, told KRDO. ‘These people at the bar, they’re friends, they’re family.’

All Souls Unitarian Church will be holding a gathering at noon, local time, on Sunday, while Temple Beit Torah is hosting a Trans Day of Remembrance service.

Former employee Greg Resha, also known as Kyree Myst, has also set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the victim’s medical and funeral expenses.

As of Sunday night, more than $13,000 had already been raised for the victims. 

Although the motive behind last night’s shooting was not immediately known, the tragedy brought back memories of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. 

Gunman Omar Mateen was killed on the scene after his gun jammed. 

The Club Q shooting also comes as America celebrates Trans Day of Remembrance. 

Additionally, Colorado is a state that has experienced several notorious mass killings, including at Columbine High School, a movie theater in a Denver suburb in 2012, and a Boulder supermarket last year. 

A gunman also killed six people at a birthday party on Mother’s Day last year before taking his own life, and in 2015, a man with an assault-style rifle killed three people and wounded nine others in a rampage at a Planned Parenthood office.

That same year, a man carrying a semiautomatic rifle fatally shot three people, apparently at random, on a residential street near downtown Colorado Springs. The gunman was fatally shot by police officers after he fired at them, authorities said at the time.

Gov. Jared Polis took to Twitter Sunday morning, calling the shooting ‘horrific, sickening and devastating.’

‘My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured, and traumatized in this terrible shooting,’ the Colorado governor said, noting that he spoke with Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers ‘and clarified that every state resource is available to local law enforcement in Colorado Springs.

‘We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman, likely saving lives in the process, and for the first responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting.

‘Colorado stands with our LGBTQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn.’ 

US Representative-elect Eric Sorensen also expressed his support for the victims and call on Americans to ‘turn down hateful rhetoric aimed at our LGBTQ community.’

Mr Sorensen said: ‘Devastating news in Colorado Springs where 23 people were shot at an LGBTQ club overnight, according to Police. As we pray for those fighting for life, we must use loud voices to stand up against hate.’

Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, also called the shooting ‘an unspeakable act.’ 

He added: ‘We have to protect LGBTQ lives from this hate.’ 

And Rep. Lauren Boebert, a local Republican who is an outspoken supporter of gun rights, called the shooting ‘absolutely awful’ and said she was praying for the victims. 

She added: ‘This lawless violence needs to end and end quickly.’ 

President Joe Biden also called for a renewed weapons ban on Twitter.

‘Jill and I are praying for the families of the five people killed in Colorado Springs, and for those injured in this senseless attack.

‘While no motive in this attack is yet clear, we know that gun violence has a particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation.

‘We must address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all forms,’ the president continued. ‘I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades, but we must do more.

‘And we must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot tolerate hate.’ 

Meanwhile, in Illinois, House Majority Leader Greg Harris said: ‘Today is Trans Day of Remembrance, when we honor the memories of our murdered Trans siblings. Sadly we also grieve for people shot in an attack on an LGBT club in Colorado Springs last night. 

‘Honor their memories by fighting back against hate and defending Trans rights.’

Democrat Stephen Heidt, who recently lost his bid for Idaho governor, echoed their claims, saying: ‘Our family is praying for all those affected by the Colorado Springs Shooting. 

‘We have yet another gun crime, another hate crime. We must come together as a nation and stand against hate now. We are out of time.

And in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul also released a statement, reading: ‘I am horrified by the shooting in Colorado Springs, and my heart breaks for the victims and their loved ones.

‘This senseless loss of life is yet another tragedy due to gun violence and hate, and I join all New Yorkers in praying for the people of Colorado.’  

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola also issued her condolences to the victims and their loved ones. 

‘My heart breaks at another deadly attack targeting the #LGBTIQ community-this time at a club in #ColoradoSprings in the US,’ she tweeted.

‘It’s another reminder of our duty to lead the fight against hate and ensure everyone is free to love who they wish to love & live as they wish to live.’