WaPo: Club Q Shooter Changed His Name At Age 16

The Washington Post reports:

Years before he allegedly walked into a Colorado LGBTQ bar with an assault-style rifle, the man now known as Anderson Lee Aldrich had a different name, and a tumultuous past. Until age 15, he was known as Nicholas Brink, living in San Antonio, public records show. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and when he was 12, his mother, Laura Voepel, was arrested for suspected arson, according to court documents. She was later found guilty of a lesser offense in connection with the same incident.

For unstated reasons, just before his 16th birthday, the young man petitioned a Texas court — with two of his grandparents’ names on the document — to legally change his entire name. His mother’s name did not appear on the petition. Aldrich’s earlier existence as Nicholas Brink, reported for the first time, offers possible answers to several key mysteries surrounding the suspected gunman. Public records and databases were oddly silent about Aldrich for the first two decades of his life.

Read the full article. According to the piece, the name change may have happened due to online bullying.

NEW: Club Q shooting suspect’s past was obscured by a name change in his teens. After online bullying, Nicholas Brink became Anderson Lee Aldrich.

Amazing research by @catebrown12 @raz_nak @alice_crites Report: @JobyWarrick @RobertKlemko + @markberman

https://t.co/v0HasBoFym

— Ben Pauker (@benpauker) November 22, 2022