Colorado Springs LGBT nightclub shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich, 24, is sentenced to serve 55 life terms in prison after killing five people and injuring 19 others in sick hate crime

Colorado Springs LGBT nightclub shooter Anderson Aldrich has been sentenced to 55 life terms after they pleaded guilty to 74 federal hate crime and gun charges. 

Aldrich, 24, opened fire with a AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle inside Club Q while wearing body armor in November 2022, killing five people and injuring 19 others before they were stopped by 'heroic' patrons. 

The shooter had previously admitted guilt to five state murder charges and 46 counts of attempted murder for which they are currently serving five consecutive life terms and an additional 2,212 years. 

Despite being told in court that there is no possibility for parole for any of their sentences today, Aldrich declined to apologize or say anything to the victims´ families.

By pleading guilty to the federal hate crime charges, the killer has also admitted to evidence of hatred - proving that the attack was premeditated and fueled by bias. 

 Those killed in the shooting were identified as Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paugh, 34; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.

District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, the first openly gay federal judge in Colorado, heard heart-wrenching testimony from victims and their families before handing down the sentence, which also includes a total of 190 years on gun charges. 

Several of the survivors and the dead victims' families expressed disappointment in court over Aldrich not receiving a death penalty but were told that due to a plea agreement signed in January, prosecutors chose not seek the capital punishment for Aldrich.  

Judge Sweeney instead assured victims that the life sentences will mean no drawn-out appeals and hearings where a hate crime defendant might become a symbol. 

She said Aldrich will never get out of prison and will face 'a miserable future, with a miserable end'. 

'This community is stronger than your armor, stronger than your weapons and stronger than your hatred,' she told Aldrich nothing she was sentencing him during Pride Month, according to CNN.  

Prosecutor Alison Connaughty also said of the sentencing: 'The admission that these were hate crimes is important to the government, and it´s important to the community of Club Q.'

The shooting at Club Q was reminiscent of a massacre in 2016 when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was shot dead by police. 

Aldrich, then 22, was formally charged on December 6, 2022 and charged with 323 criminal counts, but did not enter a plea at the time.

Prosecutors said Aldrich spent over $9,000 on weapons-related purchases from dozens of vendors between September 2020 and the attack. 

A hand drawn map of Club Q with an entry and exit point marked was found inside Aldrich's apartment, along with a black binder of training material entitled 'How to handle an active shooter.'

Defense attorneys in the state case said Aldrich is nonbinary, and uses they/them pronouns. A state prosecutor called that an effort to avoid responsibility for hate crimes.

Ashtin Gamblin, who worked the front door of Club Q and was shot nine times, told The AP that a true member of the LGBTQ+ community would know about the discrimination and mental health challenges its members face and wouldn´t attack such a sanctuary.

Aldrich visited the club at least eight times before returning in a tactical vest and carrying an AR-15 style rifle, first killing a person in the entryway and then shooting at bartenders and customers before targeting people on the dance floor.

A Navy officer grabbed the rifle barrel, burning his hand, and an Army veteran helped subdue Aldrich until police arrived. 

He had been previously arrested in 2021 for threatening their grandparents and vowing to become 'the next mass killer'.