The mother of the person who carried out a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub in 2022 sued five city police officers Monday, alleging the officers searched her home without a warrant on the night of the attack and then arrested her on false charges.

Laura Voepel alleges in the federal lawsuit that officers violated her constitutional rights when they searched her home — which she shared with her child, Anderson Aldrich — on Nov. 19, 2022. Aldrich earlier that night carried out a mass shooting at Club Q, killing five people and wounding 18.

The lawsuit refers to Aldrich as Voepel’s son; Aldrich has publicly said they identify as nonbinary and prefer they/them pronouns.

Voepel claims she initially invited officers inside her home that night, but then revoked that permission when they started to search through the apartment. The officers did not leave, despite not having a search warrant, and instead kicked her out of the home, the lawsuit alleges.

When she became upset outside, they arrested her on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest to “get rid of the nuisance that she was causing them by not allowing them to search her home,” the lawsuit alleges.

Colorado Springs police Chief Adrian Vasquez said in a statement Wednesday that he could not comment specifically on the lawsuit’s allegations since the litigation is ongoing.

“CSPD stands by the response of our officers and the comprehensive work of our department to bring justice to the victims of this mass shooting,” he said in the statement.

In the subsequent criminal case against Voepel on the misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, she was found incompetent to proceed — meaning she was too mentally ill to participate in the court process — for about two years.

That determination halted the criminal case while Voepel underwent treatment, and the charges against her were ultimately dismissed after multiple doctors found she was consistently incompetent, according to the lawsuit.

“In their zeal to investigate the tragic events of the night, the defendants ran roughshod over Ms. Voepel’s constitutional rights,” the complaint reads. “…Ms. Voepel hopes that this case brings her some justice and sends a message that no matter how tragic the events leading to a police investigation may be, the police may not disregard the constitutional rights of any citizen.”

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Originally Published: February 19, 2025 at 11:09 AM MST