Yesterday marked the closing of a violent chapter in Loveland history as Aaron Lambertus received a 20-year sentence for Attempted First Degree Murder and extreme Indifference, after pleading guilty to the charges on September 24th, as detailed by Larimer County District Attorney's Office. Lambertus exhibited a chilling disregard for human life in an incident that shook the local community to its core.
In August 2023, the Loveland Police Department was confronted with a brazen shooting in a Safeway parking lot, where two individuals were attacked while asleep on the ground, and a third person escaped injury by mere luck when Lambertus opened fire from inside a swiftly departing SUV, according to Larimer County District Attorney's Office.
A relentless investigation by Loveland Police identified the vehicle registered to Lambertus and subsequent inquiries led to interviews and the arrests of both Lambertus and his co-defendant, Ayla Osterloth, in Bozeman, MT. Osterloth, who was behind the wheel during the crime, pled guilty to Attempted Murder in the Second Degree in June of this year, resulting in a four-year sentence to the Youth Offender System with a conditional eight-year suspension at the Department of Corrections, these facts were obtained from official court documents.
Deputy District Attorney Jessica Hitchings argued that Lambertus chose his victims under the pretense that they were disposable, individuals whose absence would not echo in the societal conscience, telling police he targeted those "who no one would really care about" and who he viewed as having no societal value, Hitchings further revealed efforts by Lambertus to sway Osterloth into taking full blame for the shooting.
Judge Sarah Cure's rebuke during sentencing underscored the heinousness and pointlessness of the attack, declaring that "There was absolutely no sense to this case... There is no sense in someone coming into our community and firing guns at humans." In addition to imprisonment, Lambertus is mandated to serve a 5-year parole upon release, as stated by the Larimer County District Attorney's Office.
