LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The suspect in the mass shooting at a nightclub in the U.S. state of Colorado last month was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts, including first-degree murder and hate crimes, U.S. media reported, citing authorities.
The suspect, identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, appeared in El Paso County District Court in person on Tuesday. The 22-year-old man, hands cuffed and secured to a metal chain wrapped around the waist, was silent during the 30-minute hearing, aside from an occasional whisper to the public defender, reported The Colorado Sun, an online news outlet based in Denver, the capital of Colorado.
The formal charges filed by prosecutors Tuesday include 10 counts of first-degree murder, 70 counts of attempted first-degree murder and 48 counts of bias-motivated crimes, said the report.
Aldrich immediately started shooting on Nov. 19 as he entered Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, the second most populous city in Colorado. Five people were killed and at least 17 others were injured in the shooting.
The shooting likely entails the highest number of charges filed in a single murder case in Colorado, El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
"Obviously, when you file 305 counts in a case, that tells the public, this community, this state, and this nation that we are taking this case as serious as we possibly can," Allen told the media at a news conference after Tuesday's hearing, according to the report.
