A federal judge last week dismissed a consolidated lawsuit brought by survivors of a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting, but permitted the plaintiffs to re-file certain claims in state court.

In November 2022, Anderson Aldrich murdered five people and injured more than two dozen others at Club Q. Aldrich is serving multiple life sentences in prison as a result.

Several plaintiffs — including surviving representatives of the deceased and those who suffered injuries — sued the county, the elected sheriff and those responsible for Club Q. But last month, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez dismissed nearly all of the claims.

The plaintiffs alleged that county officials’ disinterest in removing Aldrich’s guns under state law violated their constitutional right to due process by creating the danger that Aldrich would commit the shooting. Martínez begrudgingly concluded the case law did not support a constitutional claim.

Against the property owners, the plaintiffs claimed they were liable for safety deficiencies at the club that allegedly contributed to the massacre. Martínez found Colorado law, likewise, foreclosed liability because Aldrich’s conduct was the overwhelming cause of the shooting.

After the dust settled, all that remained in the case were state law claims of negligence and wrongful death against the property owners. The plaintiffs asked Martínez to decline to exercise “supplemental jurisdiction” and dismiss the remainder of the lawsuit because no more federal law claims existed. Their lawyers indicated the defendants agreed the outstanding claims belonged in state court, not federal court.

The defendants filed their own motion, but asked Martínez specifically to dismiss the claims under a different legal mechanism. The plaintiffs characterized the “completely superfluous” request as a tactic that “Defendants believe will allow them to seek attorney’s fees.”

In a July 31 order, Martínez went down the procedural path the plaintiffs’ requested, declining to hear the remaining state law claims and dismissing the lawsuits for possible re-filing in Colorado court.

The case is Vance et al. v. El Paso County Board of County Commissioners et al.