Newspaper Page Text
LOCA^NATION
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, February 23, 2023 3A
Detective: Colorado
club shooter ran neo
Springs
-Nazi site
DAVID ZALUBOWSKII Associated Press
Noah Reich, left, and David Maldonado, the Los Angeles co-founders of Classroom of
Compassion, put up a memorial Nov. 22, 2022, with photographs of the five victims of
a weekend mass shooting at a nearby gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. A court
hearing began on Wednesday, Feb. 22, for suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich in the shooting
at Club Q, in which five people died.
BY COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS,
Colo. — The 22-year-old
accused of carrying out
the deadly mass shooting
at a gay nightclub in Colo
rado Springs in November
ran a neo-Nazi website
and used gay and racial
slurs while gaming online,
a police detective testified
Wednesday.
Anderson Lee Aldrich
used racial slurs while
gaming, posted an image
of a rifle scope trained on
a gay pride parade and
used a homophobic slur
when referring to someone
who was gay, Detective
Rebecca Joines testified on
the first day of a three-day
trial to determine if there’s
enough evidence to war
rant hate crime charges
against Aldrich.
Aldrich, who wore an
orange jail jumpsuit at the
hearing and cried at times,
identifies as nonbinary and
uses the pronouns they and
them. Joines said another
witness told investigators
that Aldrich said their
mother, Laura Voepel, is
nonbinary and forced them
to go to LGBTQ clubs.
Joines said evidence also
indicates that Aldrich was
considering livestreaming
the Nov. 19 attack at Club Q
in which five people were
killed and many others
were injured.
Earlier Wednesday,
another detective testified
about the two men credited
with stopping the attack.
Detective Ashton Gard
ner told the courtroom that
surveillance video from
inside the club showed that
a Navy sailor, Petty Offi
cer Second Class Thomas
James, grabbed the red-hot
barrel of Aldrich’s AR-style
rifle in an effort to wrench
it away and burned his
hand. He said James and
Aldrich then tumbled off
a landing and began strug
gling over Aldrich’s hand
gun, which Aldrich fired at
least once, shooting James
in the ribs.
After being shot, it is
clear from the video that
James was tiring, “but he
continues to do what he can
to subdue the suspect until
police arrive,” Gardner
testified, noting that James
later gave up his spot in
an ambulance to someone
else who was injured.
As James was grap
pling with Aldrich, Army
veteran Richard Fierro
rushed over to help, grab
bing the rifle and throw
ing it, Gardner said. Fierro
then used the handgun to
beat Aldrich, telling offi
cers, “I kept hitting him
until you came.”
Aldrich shook during the
testimony about the people
they shot and cried while
being led out of court for
the lunch break.
James, who issued a
statement days after the
attack saying he “simply
wanted to save the family
that I found,” didn’t appear
to be at the hearing. But
Fierro, who sustained
scrapes and bruises, sat in
the back row. His daugh
ter’s boyfriend was killed
in the attack.
After the gunfire ended
and police arrived, Aldrich
tried to pin the shooting
on one of the patrons who
subdued them while also
claiming that the shooter
was hiding, Officer Connor
Wallick testified. Officers
didn’t believe it and shortly
afterward confirmed
that Aldrich, 22, was the
shooter, he said.
Police found several
high-capacity magazines
at the scene, including a
drum-style one that carries
60 rounds and was empty
and others that carry 40
rounds, Gasper said. A
state law passed after the
2012 Aurora, Colorado, the
ater shooting bans maga
zines that carry more than
15 rounds.
Unlike the other charges
Aldrich faces, including
murder and attempted
murder, hate crime
charges require prosecu
tors to present evidence
of a motive — that Aldrich
was driven by bias, either
wholly or in part. That
could include statements
Aldrich made on social
media or to other people,
said Karen Steinhauser,
a trial lawyer, former
prosecutor and current
University of Denver law
professor who isn’t affili
ated with the case.
Coming into the hear
ing, prosecutors hadn’t
revealed anything about
why they charged Aldrich
with a hate crime.
Woman seriously
injured in fiery
North Hall wreck
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson
@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville woman
was pulled from a fiery
Corvette after it struck a
tree Tuesday, Feb. 21, in
North Hall, according to
authorities.
Hall County Sheriff’s
Office deputies and Hall
County Fire Rescue per
sonnel responded around
11:50 p.m. Tuesday to the
intersection of Southers
and Greencrest roads.
The fire department
extricated passenger
Alexis Criswell, 26, from
the 2001 Corvette that
caught fire after hitting a
tree.
While first responders
transported the woman to
the hospital with serious
injuries, a K9 tracking dog
tried to find the man driv
ing. The driver left the
scene and was not found.
Investigators believe
the car was heading
north on Southers Road
and crashed on the sharp
curve. They also believe
speed was a factor in the
crash.
The crash is still under
investigation, and anyone
with information on the
case can contact the inves
tigator at 770-533-7735.
Rapper Nipsey
Hussle’s killer
gets 60 years
to life in prison
LOS ANGELES — A
Los Angeles judge on
Wednesday sentenced the
man convicted of gunning
down Nipsey Hussle to 60
years to life in prison after
hearing testaments to the
immense cost of the kill
ing of the hip-hop star and
neighborhood leader, and
of the lifetime of mental
illness, abuse and struggle
of the man who shot him.
Superior Court Judge
H. Clay Jacke II handed
down the sentence to Eric
R. Holder Jr., 33, who was
found guilty of the 2019
first-degree murder of
the 33-year-old Grammy-
nominated hip-hop art
ist outside the clothing
store Hussle founded, the
Marathon, in the South
Los Angeles neighbor
hood where both men
grew up in very similar
circumstances.
“I am very mindful of
what was presented as
to Mr. Holder’ mental
health,” Jacke said. “I am
also mindful of the devas
tation caused to the vic
tims and their families. I
believe this sentence bal
ances the two.”
After the monthlong
trial, jurors in July also
convicted Holder of two
counts of attempted vol
untary manslaughter and
two counts of assault with
a firearm for gunfire that
hit two other men at the
scene who survived.
Jacke sentenced Holder
to 25 years to life for
the murder, 25 more for
a firearm sentencing
enhancement and 10 for
assault with a firearm. He
set several other sentenc
ing additions and ordered
that others run concur
rent. He also gave Holder
credit for the nearly four
years he has served since
the shooting.
Holder, dressed in
orange jail attire, stared
straight ahead throughout
the proceedings and did
not react when the sen
tence was read, and spoke
only to tell the judge he
understood the circum
stances when he was
asked.
Associated Press
CALLS
■ Continued from 1A
would (I) ask — if it merits
itself — to extend 5-6 days
to make sure numbers are
correct,” Dunahoo said. “...
I didn’t
say, ‘Yeah,
it was all
rigged
or this or
that.’ I just
said there
are things
that hap
pened ...
and with
that, really, nothing hap
pened. I think I said onto
that resolution that just said
... I’d support that, if it took
several extra days, to look
into it.”
Dunahoo went on to say
that while he accepts the
outcome of the 2020 elec
tion, he believes “there are
still questions that probably
should be answered.”
Without elaborating fur
ther on those specific ques
tions, he said he believes
Senate Bill 202 addressed
a number of issues he had
with Georgia’s voting laws,
which included dropboxes
and absentee ballots.
“202 covered most every
thing pretty well,” he said.
“We only allowed dropboxes
for that COVID year. We
should’ve done away with
that. We shouldn’t have sent
out absentee ballots to every
body in the state of Georgia.
I think we could have solved
that a little better by saying,
‘Look, we’re going back to
the old ways that worked for
years before we got into this
one year,’ not knowing any
thing about COVID but doing
stupid things.”
According to the report,
Rep. Matt Dubnik, R-Gaines-
ville, was left a voice mes
sage from the former
president’s campaign, though
Dunahoo
he has
no recol
lection of
receiving
any such
call.
“ I f
somebody
left me a
voicemail
and said they’re from the
Trump camp ... I certainly
don’t remember that,” Dub
nik said. “I had over 1,500
calls from
Dubnik
constitu
ents during
that time.”
Rep.
David
Clark,
R-Sugar
Hill, who
reportedly
answered
a call from Trump’s cam
paign, could not be reached
for comment.
The Associated Press
contributed to this article
Clark
HOSPITAL
■ Continued from 1A
In addition, the hospital
would add more than 200
new parking spaces for
patients and visitors, and
expand the pharmacy, labo
ratory, kitchen and other
support spaces.
The project will be bro
ken into two phases, with
the second phase — includ
ing more treatment rooms
and an enhanced area for
behavioral health — set for
completion in 2026.
New outpatient
surgery center
could open in fall
Medical Plaza 2, which
will house a new outpatient
surgery center, is set for
completion by June.
The $52 million cen
ter behind Medical Plaza
1 will be off River Place,
which runs between Friend
ship Road/Ga. 347 and the
hospital.
The building will feature
doctor’s offices, four operat
ing rooms and two procedure
rooms.
The surgery center is
expected to open in the fall.
“There’s a process you
have to go through with state
licensure and all of those
things,” Williamson said.
New radiation
device could be
ready to go by May
A second linear accelera
tor, or radiation treatment
device, is being added at the
Braselton Cancer Center at
Medical Plaza 1.
The installation, set to take
place this weekend, is costing
the hospital $8 million to $9
million, Williamson said.
The equipment is expected
to be ready by May.
The center, which opened
in June 2021, combines
Longstreet Clinic’s Medical
Oncology and Hematology
and Northeast Georgia Phy
sicians Group’s Radiation
Oncology.
“While we have been
providing comprehensive
cancer care in Braselton for
many years now, this new
space provides a more cohe
sive environment and access
to both medical oncology/
hematology and radiation
oncology services, as well as
a new dedicated entrance
providing easier access for
our cancer patients,” said Dr.
Geoffrey Weidner, NGMC’s
medical director of radia
tion oncology and a radia
tion oncologist with NGPG,
in 2021.
More employees
needed as
health care grows
The reason for the growth
is simple: More space is
needed for more patients.
The hospital is in the mid
dle of fast-growing South
Hall, which saw a population
boom over the past decade.
Hospital numbers from
2022 include 56,293 emer
gency department visits,
9,368 inpatient discharges,
7,546 surgeries and $1.6 bil
lion in gross revenue.
Also, the hospital has 1,100
employees.
The Gainesville-based
Northeast Georgia Health
System, which is also build
ing a $538 million tower at
Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Gainesville, is recruit
ing to fill 539 registered
nurses and 30 licensed prac
tical nurses, among other
positions.
“We just have to figure out
how to recruit, retain and get
them all here,” Williamson
said. “If you know folks that
are interested in employ
ment opportunities where
they will always have a job,
it’s health care.”
HALL
March 9
9am-noon
COME OUT AND
JOIN US FOR
HEALTH
DEMONSTRATIONS,
AND INFORMATION
FOR ALL AGES.
Frances Meadows
Aquatic Center
1545 Community Way
Gainesville, GA
30501
Sponsored by
Northeast Georgia Health System
Interested in a Booth
at our Healthy Hall
Event?
Email:
marketin3@3ainesvi I letimesxom
today for more information and
to resen/e your space.
All vendors are welcome.
She Sfmcs
gainesvilletimes.com
marketing@gainesvilletimes.com
