(FreedomBeacon.com)- According to reports, the shooter accused of opening fire inside an LGBTQ nightclub on Saturday is the grandson of a Republican state representative in California.
According to reports, the suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is 22 years old, is the grandson of Republican California state Rep. Randy Voepel, who represents the 71st Assembly district, which includes the counties of San Diego and Riverside. He is the deputy chair of the committees that deal with public employment and retirement and the committee that deals with issues concerning veterans and the military.
Voepel was serving as mayor of Santee, California, in 2001 when a shooting occurred at Santana High School in the city when two students were killed, and eleven people were injured. On Facebook, the representative’s daughter, Laura, who also happens to be Aldrich’s mother, has paid her father public tribute. In one of her posts, she urged her father to “Keep up the good work Dad. You work hard to improve our lives and a lot of us take notice.”
After reportedly walking into Club Q in Colorado Springs on Saturday night and opening fire into a gathering of people, the grandson of Voepel is being held on preliminary charges of murder and hate crime. He is accused of murdering five people and injuring at least 25 others.
According to a press release issued by El Paso County in June 2021, Aldrich was the focus of an investigation regarding a bomb threat that had been made at his mother’s residence. When the authorities arrived at Laura’s house, they issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire neighborhood and demanded that the person believed to be responsible leave the house.
According to the news statement, Aldrich initially refused to comply with police for a few minutes but eventually stepped out the front door and was placed under arrest after being taken into custody. It would appear that the district attorney’s office in Colorado did not bring any charges against him at that time.
