‘Attack on a family’
5 are killed, 25 injured in shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A gunman opened fire at an LGBTQ nightclub just before midnight Saturday, leaving five people dead and 25 injured, police said Sunday.
At least two people at Club Q confronted the shooter, who was using a “long rifle,” and prevented him from injuring others, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said.
“We owe them a great debt of thanks,” said Vasquez, calling those who intervened “heroic.”
A suspect was taken into custody about five minutes after police first received a 911 call, Vasquez said.
Authorities have not determined a motive for the shooting, but are investigating whether it was a hate crime, according to Vasquez. The FBI is also looking into the shooting, CSPD Lt. Pamela Castro said.
Those who were injured were taken to several hospitals, and at least two
people were still in critical condition Sunday morning, according to Dr. Bill Plath, chief medical officer for Penrose Hospital.
Mourners on Sunday converged on a makeshift memorial near the club made of flowers, hand-painted crosses and signs, including one that read “Love over hate.”
With the Club Q shooting, 2022 has already surpassed 2019 for the most mass killings with firearms in a year in the U.S. at 34, according to the AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern University database.
Suspect identified
Police identified the suspect as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, and said they believe he acted alone.
Aldrich was being treated for injuries; police offered few other details.
In a statement on its Facebook page, Club Q called the shooting a “hate attack” and said it was “devastated by the senseless attack on our community.”
“We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack,” said the statement by Club Q, which describes itself as a dance and nightclub.
Friends wait to hear answers
Natalee Bingham, 25, received a FaceTime call from her friend Kelly Jen as Jen entered Club Q at 11:48 Saturday.
Jen, who is transgender, doesn’t go out much and was excited to show her friend her outfit – a black top, black skirt and freshly colored hair. She told Bingham she was going to get a drink at the bar, then head outside to smoke a cigarette, and said she would call her later.
Eight minutes after that, police received the first 911 call about an active shooter in the club. Bingham hasn’t heard from her friend since and fears Jen was one of the victims.
Bingham, who also identifies as transgender, said Club Q is considered a “safe space” among her peers. Bingham, who lives in Denver, visited the club in the summer and said it draws patrons from both Colorado Springs and Denver.
“It’s crazy to think people still have this hate in their heart in this day and age,” she said.
Macie Loureiro, 27, told USA TODAY that her brother, Luca Loureiro, was hosting a monthly “Drag Divas” event at Club Q on Saturday night when the shooting occurred. She said Luca was backstage just after the show when he heard gunfire and hid with other performers. He was not injured.
“Normally, it’s a great place to just go with friends and be able to be yourself and really have everybody celebrate in that,” Macie Loureiro said.
“It’s devastating because it was an attack on a family – beautiful people who just wanted to go and have a safe place to hang out and be themselves,” she said. “We’re not going to have that anymore.”
Colorado Springs, a city of about 480,000 about 70 miles south of Denver, has seen growing acceptance for the LGBTQ community in recent years, including more like Club Q, according to Macie Loureiro.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
“It’s devastating because it was an attack on a family – beautiful people who just wanted to go and have a safe place to hang out and be themselves.” Macie Loureiro Relative of clubgoer
The club had been prepping for a drag brunch Sunday, according to its Facebook page, and said it would be celebrating Transgender Day of Remembrance Sunday. The day honors the at least 32 transgender and nonbinary people killed this year by violence.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected as governor in the United States, expressed his gratitude for the “brave individuals” who confronted the gunman during the shooting.
“This is horrific, sickening, and devastating,” Polis tweeted. “My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured and traumatized in this terrible shooting.”
President Joe Biden weighed in as well, offering prayers for the “senseless” tragedy. “While no motive in this attack is yet clear, we know that gun violence has a particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation,” he said on Twitter.
A shooting on June 12, 2016, at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, left 49 people dead and 53 injured. The attack at the Pulse nightclub was the second deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.