Victims of 2022 mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ club sue county for not enforcing red flag laws

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 filed lawsuits Sunday against the El Paso County commissioners and former sheriff. The lawsuits allege that the killings could’ve been prevented if the sheriff’s office used the state’s red flag law. Court documents cite the arrest of the gunman, Anderson Aldrich, a year before the mass shooting, where he reportedly said he would be the “next mass shooter.” But no attempt was made to use the red flag law, which would’ve allowed law enforcement to temporarily take Aldrich’s firearms and potentially prevent the killing the following year.