Judge in 2021 warned of accused Colorado shooter’s potential for violence

A judge in 2021 warned that the man now accused of killing multiple people in a Colorado nightclub last month had the potential for serious violence even as she dismissed a kidnapping case against him, according to reports.

District Court Judge Robin Chittum last year argued that Anderson Aldrich, accused of the Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs last month, was “clearly…planning for something else” after he allegedly kidnapped his grandparents ahead of their move out of Colorado in 2021. 

Hearing of Aldrich’s affinity for guns and his stockpiling of weapons and explosives, Chittum said during the proceeding that the alleged criminal undertaking “didn’t have to do with your grandma and grandpa.” 

“It was saving all these firearms and trying to make this bomb, and making statements about other people being involved in some sort of shootout and a huge thing,” she said, according to transcripts reviewed by the AP.

Charges against Aldrich were dropped by prosecutors; Chittum herself had no ability to further press them. 

In several subsequent court appearances, Aldrich was said to have begun taking medication in order to mediate his behavior. 

“It’s an adjustment period for sure,” he told Chittum, according to transcripts, to which Chittum replied, “Yeah it will settle, don’t worry. Good luck.”