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Headlines – June 16, 2023 Por Jaijongkit
Suspect in Club Q Mass Shooting Expected to Plead Guilty
The suspect in last year’s mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs is expected to plead guilty at a hearing later this month.
That’s according to The Associated Press, citing several survivors of the shooting that took five lives and wounded seventeen others on Nov. 19, 2022.
23-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich is facing more than 300 state counts, including murder and hate crimes.
Prosecutors say Aldrich used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle in the nightclub attack. Just a year earlier, Aldrich was arrested following an armed standoff with police. Afterward, a stockpile of weapons, ammunition, body armor, and explosive materials was recovered. Charges in that case were dismissed.
By pleading guilty to all the Club Q charges, Aldrich could receive life in prison.
Colorado law requires victims to be notified of plea deals. Officials involved in the case declined to comment.
The AP reports that in telephone interviews from jail, Aldrich has remorse for the shootings, saying, “I have to take responsibility for what happened.” The AP has quoted a survivor as saying, “No one has any sympathy for him.”
Since being arrested, Aldrich has identified as nonbinary and goes by the pronouns they and them.
Jor’Dell Richardson Memorial and Procession
A memorial service will be held this evening for Jor’Dell Richardson, a Black 14-year-old boy killed by Aurora police earlier this month.
Jor’Dell was fatally shot on June 1 after he was suspected of robbing a convenience store. He had a toy pellet gun with him, not a real gun, and surrendered before being shot. Last Friday, the Richardson family held a press conference calling for justice, accountability, and police reform.
As the fight for change and awareness continues, organizers are holding a community memorial and procession at the Aurora Municipal Center, accompanied by eulogies from family members and faith leaders. Afterwards, pallbearers will lead a march through Aurora, carrying the casket containing Jor’Dell’s body.
Event organizers are encouraging community members to attend the memorial and procession to show support for the Richardson family.
Denver School Board Reverses 2020 Ban on Police in Schools
In a 4-3 vote on Thursday, the Denver Public School Board reversed its 2020 policy to ban armed police from campuses.
Following two separate shootings at East High School earlier this year, the board has been split over whether to permanently reinstate school resource officers, or SROs.
After the shootings, the board unanimously voted to temporarily place SROs back in Denver high schools.
Opponents say the presence of SROs in schools threatens students of color, leading them to a disproportionately higher rate of arrests and expulsions compared with white students.
However, according to The Denver Post, board members agreed that SROs alone won’t solve gun violence issues, which they attribute to a lack of sufficient mental health support.
First Responders Pull Woman From Boulder Creek
First responders and bystanders pulled a woman out of Boulder Creek Thursday after she was seen floating unconscious near Eben G. Fine Park.
A witness told The Daily Camera the creek was running high and fast. The woman was rushed to the hospital where she was reported to be in critical condition.
In a similar incident last week, nine-year-old Romeo Alvarez drowned in a tubing accident in Boulder Creek. The Sheriff’s office has said the water levels and current are not high enough to ban water activities.
Juneteenth general roundup
Special celebrations this weekend will help commemorate and honor Juneteenth. The observed federal holiday means banks, the postal service, and most government offices will be closed Monday.
This is the second year of this new holiday. Juneteenth is a remembrance of June 19th of 1865, when Union troops told enslaved Americans that they were free.
Today in Boulder, city officials will raise a Juneteenth Flag at the Penfield Tate Municipal Building as part of a ceremony with local leaders.
And starting Saturday, Denver will host the two-day Juneteenth Musical Festival at Historic Five Points.
Small Fraction Of Colorado Remains In A Drought
With all the rain we’ve been getting in 2023, it may be no surprise that only about 1 percent of Colorado is still in a drought. By comparison, one year ago, over 80 percent of Colorado was in a drought.
That’s according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which says Baca County, in the state’s southeast corner, is still too dry.