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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. − The suspect accused of killing five people and injuring 17 others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs pleaded guilty Monday to multiple murder charges and other crimes.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder and no contest two counts of bias-motivated crimes. Aldrich was initially charged with more than 300 crimes in connection to the mass shooting at Club Q in November.
According to the plea deal, Aldrich will serve five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole on the murder charges and 46 consecutive 48-year sentences on the attempted murder charges. The plea deal spares survivors and victims’ family members, expected to speak at Monday’s hearing, a potentially painful trial.
Aldrich opened fire with an AR-15 style rifle at the nightclub before bar patrons, including Army veteran Richard Fierro, helped subdue them.
Colorado law requires victims be notified of plea deals, and several people who survived or lost loved ones in the shooting told the Associated Press earlier this month state prosecutors alerted them Aldrich would plead guilty and face the maximum state sentence.
Suspect could also face federal hate crime charges
In addition to the hundreds of state charges, Aldrich could face federal hate crime charges, according to the Associated Press.
The Justice Department is considering filing federal hate crime charges, the outlet reported, citing a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. It’s unclear whether a plea deal for the state charges would also resolve the federal investigation, the Associated Press reported. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aldrich told the outlet they plan to take responsibility for the attack at Monday’s hearing, but some survivors who listened to Aldrich’s recorded jailhouse phone calls with the Associated Press saw their comments as an attempt to avoid the federal death penalty.
Previously: Judge refuses to drop hate crime charges against Colorado Springs shooting suspect
Contributing: The Associated Press
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