Colorado Springs suspect said they planned to be ‘the next mass killer’ during previous bombing threat

In this image from video provided by Leslie Bowman, Anderson Lee Aldrich surrenders to police at a home where their mother, Laura Voepel, was renting a room in Colorado Springs, Colo., on June 18, 2021. About a year and a half before being named the suspect in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested after making bomb threats, threatening to kill family members and talking about becoming “the next mass killer,” according to court records unsealed Thursday. But the case was dismissed more than a year later in August 2022 because the victims — the suspect’s grandparents and mother — dodged subpoenas and did not cooperate with authorities, leading the defense to argue Aldrich’s constitutional right to a speedy trial was at risk, Michael J. Allen, the district attorney for the Fourth Judicial District, which includes Colorado Springs, said at a news conference Thursday. According to a June 2021 arrest affidavit from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began June 18 at Aldrich’s grandparents’ home in Colorado Springs, after Aldrich became furious when the grandparents said they were selling the house and moving to Florida. Authorities said they overheard Aldrich tell medical staff at the hospital that they were “sorry” and “had been awake for four days.” The arrest affidavit also states that police interviewed Voepel at her Colorado Springs home early Sunday morning.