The father of the Colorado Springs mass shooting suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, thought his son was dead until just six months ago, he told the media in a confusing interview.
Aaron Brink, the 48-year-old father of the Club Q shooter, told the media in a somewhat rambling interview that he “praised” his son for his “violent behavior” as a child and believed he committed suicide in 2016.
“I thought he was dead. I was sorry for his loss. He had gone through a meltdown and I thought I had lost my son,” Brink told CBS 8.
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Investigators work outside of Club Q on November 22, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Saturday, November 19, a gunman opened fire at the LGBTQ+ nightclub, killing 5 and injuring 25 others, before being subdued by patrons.
(Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)
Brink is a former MMA fighter and adult film star. He has struggled with a severe methamphetamine addiction in the past. He believed his son had been dead for six years until he received an angry phone call from him six months ago.
Aldrich’s father also shed light on his son’s upbringing.
“I praised him for his violent behavior very early on. I told him it works. It’s instant and you’ll get immediate results,” Brink said.
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Brink told the outlet that his family is “Mormon” and “conservative Republican.” She said that the first fear she had after hearing the news was that her son is gay.
“You know that Mormons are not homosexual. We are not homosexual. There are no homosexuals in the Mormon church. We are not homosexual,” Brink said.
Colorado Club Q shooting suspect Anderson Aldrich was seen in court for the first time Wednesday.
(KXRM)
Public defenders representing Aldrich, who is accused of killing five people and wounding 17 more in the shooting at a gay nightclub, describe the 22-year-old in court documents as “non-binary.”
Brink expressed remorse for what his son is accused of doing: “There’s no excuse for going and killing people. If you’re killing people, there’s something wrong. It’s not the answer.”
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“I’m sorry for your loss,” Brink said of the families of the victims. “Life is so fragile and valuable. Those people’s lives were valuable. You know, they’re valuable. They’re good people, probably. It’s not something you kill someone for. I’m sorry I let my son down.”
A woman and her daughter pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near Club Q on November 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
“I love my son no matter what. I love my son,” she added.
Bradford Betz and Greg Norman of Fox News contributed to this report.
