Survivors of LGBTQ+ club shooting say the deaths and trauma could’ve been avoided in lawsuits

Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Victims and family of those killed in the mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs in 2022 spoke Tuesday after filing lawsuits against the El Paso County commissioners and former sheriff. The lawsuits allege the killings could have been prevented if the sheriff’s office used the state’s red flag law. Court documents cite the arrest of the shooter, Anderson Aldrich, a year before the mass shooting, when Aldrich reportedly said they would be the “next mass shooter.” But no attempt was made to use the red flag law, the suits allege. That law would have allowed officers to temporarily seize Aldrich’s firearms. The lawsuit says that could have prevented the nightclub shooting.