Judge warned last year that accused Colorado bar gunman planned a shootout: "It's going to be so bad"

A judge who dismissed a 2021 kidnapping case against the accused Colorado gay nightclub shooter warned last year that the defendant had been stockpiling weapons and planning a shootout, and needed mental health treatment or "it's going to be so bad."

The comments made by Judge Robin Chittum in August last year are contained in court documents obtained by The Associated Press. They add to the warning signs authorities had about Anderson Aldrich's increasingly violent behavior prior to the Nov. 19 shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

Five people were killed and 17 were wounded. The suspect was charged last week with 305 criminal counts, including hate crimes and murder. Aldrich's public defender has declined to talk about the case under Colorado judiciary rules.