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Just before midnight on Saturday, a 22-year-old gunman opened fire inside an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing at least five people and injuring 25, according to authorities. Adrian Vasquez, the chief of police in Colorado Springs, has named Anderson Lee Aldrich as the shooter at Club Q.
He entered the club and opened fire right away, but at least two clubgoers fought him off and stopped additional carnage, according to Vasquez. We owe them a lot of gratitude, he remarked. On November 20, 2022, flowers and a placard that reads “Love Over Hate” are placed by Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs.
On November 20, 2022, a shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in the US city of Colorado Springs left at least five people dead and 18 injured, according to police. Aldrich is being treated at a hospital, according to police, after a gunman in Colorado Springs shoots five people at an LGBTQ nightclub before bystanders attack and stop him. Police claim that no shots were fired at him by officers.
Some of the worst mass shootings in American history have occurred in Colorado, including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Six people were killed in a mass shooting at a birthday party in Colorado Springs the previous year.
What is known about the deadly attack in Colorado Springs is as follows: The brief shooting took place
There were only moments of violence. Numerous 911 calls were made to the police beginning at 11:56 p.m., officers were sent to the scene at 11:57 p.m., one officer arrived at midnight, and the suspect was apprehended at 12:02 a.m., according to the police.
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Police reported that 39 patrol officers altogether responded, while Fire Department Captain Mike Smaldino reported that 11 ambulances arrived at the scene. The police chief, Vasquez, said that Aldrich used a long rifle in the shooting and that two guns were discovered nearby.
Joshua Thurman reported hearing gunshots and seeing a muzzle flare while inside the club and dancing to CNN affiliate KOAA. I kept dancing because I assumed it was the music, he added. Thurman claimed that he rushed to a dressing room to hide when he heard another round of gunfire.
He claimed to have heard the sounds of additional gunshots, weeping victims, and breaking glass. Thurman claimed that as he emerged, he found blood, broken glass, and bodies laying on the ground. Authorities initially reported that 18 individuals had been hurt, but later increased that number to 25.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department sends our condolences to those who were lost and injured in last night’s tragic events at Club Q. We understand the impact this has on our LGBTQ+ community, and we stand strong with you. #ClubQ pic.twitter.com/6cfFx3Hhbw
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) November 21, 2022
According to Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers on Sunday, 19 of the 25 injured had gunshot wounds. Suthers stated that he expects the injured individuals to survive based on conversations with medical professionals, and the community is “crossing its fingers” for no additional fatalities.
The attack is being looked at by police to see if it was a hate crime. Police noted that Club Q had ties to the LGBTQ community and said they were looking into whether the incident was a case of hate crime. The shooting occurred on Sunday, the day before Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Vasquez declared that “Club Q is a safe sanctuary for our LGBTQ citizens.” “Every person has a right to feel safe and secure in our city and to go about without fear of being injured or treated unfairly,” the city’s charter states.
Club Q sent a statement on social media in which it expressed its “devastation” at the “senseless attack on our community” and appreciated “the courageous patrons’ rapid actions that brought down the shooter and put an end to this hate attack.”
Last year, a man with the same name as the suspect was detained. The alleged nightclub shooter’s identity and birthdate matched those of a person detained in connection with a bomb threat the year before, according to two law enforcement sources, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis told CNN he thought they were the same person: Everything I’ve heard suggests it’s the same person, according to Polis.
According to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time and his mother’s former landlord, Anderson Lee Aldrich was detained in June 2021 following a standoff at a Colorado Springs residence where his mother resided.
Aldrich is shown in a video acquired by CNN turning himself into authorities last year after reportedly making a bomb threat. Aldrich can be seen leaving the house barefoot and with his hands raised in the video footage captured by the home’s owner’s Ring door camera as he approaches sheriff’s deputies.
In the June press release, sheriff’s officers stated that they were called after Aldrich’s mother complained that he had threatened to attack her with a homemade bomb, several guns, and ammo. The news statement stated that after deputies called the suspect, he “refused to comply with instructions to surrender,” which prompted them to order the evacuation of surrounding residences.
Aldrich was apprehended after leaving the residence when the sheriff’s crisis negotiation squad successfully persuaded him to do so many hours after the initial police contact. No explosives were discovered in the house by the authorities.
It’s unclear at this time how the lawsuit was settled. The district attorney’s office, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette, stated no official charges were brought in the matter. An inquiry from CNN for comment was not answered by the district attorney’s office.
Aldrich also called the Gazette in an effort to get an earlier article about the incident from 2021 taken down online, according to the newspaper. Aldrich reportedly left a voicemail requesting the Gazette to either remove or update the story since “there is absolutely nothing there, the matter was dropped.”
CNN was unable to get in touch with Aldrich’s mother for comment. The bar served as the LGBTQ community’s “second home.” The only LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs until recently was Club Q, which opened its doors in 2002.
With little under 500,000 citizens, the city has the second-highest population in the state and is the location of several military installations. Focus on the Family, a fundamentalist Christian organization that believes homosexuality and same-sex marriage are sins, has its headquarters there.
Owner of Club Q Nic Grzecka stated that he and his business partner opened the club in order to obtain a “permanent” safe spot in the community in an interview with Colorado Springs Indy in July 2020. The location further provides activities for people of all ages, such as brunch and a scheduled Thanksgiving celebration.
Tiana Nicole Dykes, a native of Colorado Springs, described Club Q as “a second home full of chosen family.” “I go there at least once a week, if not twice a week. To me, this place is really important. the vibe, the crowd, and the message.
It’s a great place, and this tragedy didn’t deserve it, Dykes said to CNN on Sunday. A mass shooting at an LGBT+ safe space would be extremely destructive. There are feelings of contempt, skepticism, and plain outright shock. Nobody ever imagines that it will occur to them, but occasionally it does.
The incident was described as “horrific, terrible, and devastating” in a statement released on Sunday by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and the country’s first homosexual governor. Polis also offered state resources to local law enforcement.
He said, “We are forever grateful for the courageous people who stood in the way of the shooter, perhaps saving lives in the process, and for the first responders who came quickly to this awful shooting. “As we grieve together, Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone affected by this tragedy.”
There are only two homosexual bars in Colorado Springs, according to Polis, and Club Q is one of them. Jim Acosta of CNN was informed of this.
Everyone understood it. I was aware of this location. Simply shocking. People are still adjusting to that. But I have faith that we’ll recover. We are expressing our affection to one another. We’re demonstrating mutual healing, the governor declared.
Democrats from Colorado’s two US senators issued words of condolence and called for more to be done for the LGBTQ community. Sen. John Hickenlooper said, “We have to defend LGBTQ lives from this bigotry. Sen. Michael Bennett stated, “We must do more to defend the LGBTQ community and stand firm against bigotry and hate in every form as we seek justice for this unfathomable atrocity.”
In a statement, President Joe Biden expressed his prayers for the victims and their families. “Although the attack’s motivation is not yet known, we are aware that the LGBTQI+ community has recently been the target of horrifying hate crimes.
Threats of violence are rising, and gun violence continues to have a terrible effect in particular on LGBTQI+ communities across the country, according to Biden’s prepared statement. Rosa Flores, Sam Fossum, Casey Tolan, Alaa Elassar, Nelli Black, and John Miller all contributed to this report for CNN.
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