A 22-year-old gunman killed at least five people and injured 25 others in an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just before midnight Saturday, police said Sunday.
The suspect in the shooting at Club Q was identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, according to Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.
Upon entering the club, he immediately opened fire before at least two people inside the club confronted and fought him, preventing further violence, Vasquez said.
“We owe them a great debt of thanks,” he said.
Aldrich is being treated at a hospital, police said. Officers did not shoot at him, police said.
Colorado has seen some of the worst mass shootings in US history, including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Last year in Colorado Springs, a mass shooting at a birthday party left six dead.
Here’s what we know about the fatal attack in Colorado Springs:
The shooting lasted just minutes
The violence lasted just minutes. Police received numerous 911 calls starting at 11:56 p.m., officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m., an officer arrived at midnight and the suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said. A total of 39 patrol officers responded, police said, and Fire Department Captain Mike Smaldino said 11 ambulances went to the scene.
Aldrich used a long rifle in the shooting and two firearms were found at the scene, Vasquez, the police chief, said.
Joshua Thurman told CNN affiliate KOAA he was inside the club dancing when he heard gunshots and saw a muzzle flash.
“I thought it was the music, so I kept dancing,” he said. When he heard another round of shots, Thurman said he ran to a dressing room to hide.
He said he heard the sounds of more gunshots, people crying and windows being shattered. When he came out, he saw bodies lying on the ground, broken glass and blood, Thurman said.
Authorities initially said 18 people were injured but later adjusted that total up to 25.
Nineteen of the 25 injured had gunshot wounds, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told CNN’s Jim Acosta Sunday. Based on communication with medical personnel, Suthers said he expects the injured victims to survive and the community is “crossing our fingers” for no more fatalities.
Police are investigating whether the attack was a hate crime
Police said they were investigating whether the attack was a hate crime, noting Club Q’s relationship with the LGBTQ community. The shooting came as the calendar turned to Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday.
“Club Q is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens,” Vasquez said. “Every citizen has a right to feel safe and secure in our city, to go about our beautiful city without fear of being harmed or treated poorly.”
In a statement on social media, Club Q said it was “devastated by the senseless attack on our community” and thanked “the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
A man with the same name as the suspect was arrested last year
Two law enforcement sources confirmed that the suspected nightclub shooter’s date of birth and name matched a person who was arrested over a bomb threat the previous year, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also told CNN he believed they were one and the same: “Everything I heard indicates it is the same person,” Polis said.
Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 after a standoff at a Colorado Springs home where his mother lived, according to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time, and his mother’s former landlord.
Video obtained by CNN shows Aldrich surrendering to law enforcement last year after allegedly making a bomb threat. Footage from the Ring door camera of the owner of the home shows Aldrich exiting the house with his hands up and barefoot, and walking to sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff’s deputies said in the June release that they responded to a report by Aldrich’s mother that he was “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition.”
Deputies called the suspect, and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the press release said, leading them to evacuate nearby homes.
Several hours after the initial police call, the sheriff’s crisis negotiations unit was able to get Aldrich to leave the house he was in, and he was arrested after walking out the front door. Authorities did not find any explosives in the home.
It’s not immediately clear how the case was resolved. But the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that the district attorney’s office said no formal charges were pursued in the case. The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.
Aldrich also called the Gazette in an attempt to get an earlier story about the 2021 incident removed from the website, the newspaper reported. “There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” Aldrich said in a voice message, according to the Gazette.
Attempts by CNN to reach Aldrich’s mother for comment were unsuccessful.
The club was a ‘second home’ for the LGBTQ community
Club Q opened in 2002 and was, until recently, the only LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs.
The city is the state’s second-most populous with just under 500,000 residents and is home to a number of military bases. It is the headquarters for Focus on the Family, the conservative Christian group that says homosexuality and same-sex marriage are sins.
In a July 2020 interview with Colorado Springs Indy, Club Q owner Nic Grzecka said he and his business partner opened the club to get a “permanent” safe place in the city.
The venue also hosts events for people of all ages, including brunch and planned an upcoming Thanksgiving event.
Lifelong Colorado Springs resident Tiana Nicole Dykes called Club Q “a second home full of chosen family.”
“I’m there every other week if not every single week. This space means the world to me. The energy, the people, the message. It’s an amazing place that didn’t deserve this tragedy,” Dykes told CNN on Sunday. “Something like a mass shooting at an LGBT+ safe space is damaging beyond belief. There’s feelings of disrespect, disbelief, and just pure shock. Nobody ever thinks it’s gonna happen to them, and sometimes it does.”
What political leaders are saying
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and the nation’s first openly gay governor, issued a statement Sunday calling the attack “horrific, sickening and devastating” and offered state resources to local law enforcement.
“We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman likely saving lives in the process and for the first responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting,” he said. “Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn together.”
Polis told CNN’s Jim Acosta there are only two gay bars in Colorado Springs, and Club Q was one of the main venues.
“Everyone knew it. I knew it, knew this venue. It’s just shocking. That’s still setting in for people. But I know we’re going to bounce back. We’re showing love for one another. We’re showing healing for one another,” the governor said.
Colorado’s two US senators, both Democrats, offered condolences in statements and said more should be done for the LGBTQ community.
“We have to protect LGBTQ lives from this hate,” Sen. John Hickenlooper said.
“As we seek justice for this unimaginable act, we must do more to protect the LGBTQ community and stand firm against discrimination and hate in every form,” Sen. Michael Bennett said.
President Joe Biden also issued a statement saying he was praying for the victims and their families.
“While no motive in this attack is yet clear, we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years. Gun violence continues to have a devastating and particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation and threats of violence are increasing,” Biden said in the written statement.
CNN’s Casey Tolan, Alaa Elassar, Sam Fossum, Rosa Flores, Nelli Black and John Miller contributed to this report.
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