As bullets tore through a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding many more, one patron who\u2019d been partying moments before rushed into action, grabbing a handgun from the suspect, hitting him with it and pinning him down until police arrived just minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was one of at least two customers who police and city officials credit with stopping the gunman and limiting the bloodshed in Saturday night\u2019s shooting at Club Q. The violence pierced the cozy confines of an entertainment venue that has long been a cherished safe spot for the LGBTQ community in the conservative-leaning city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHad that individual not intervened this could have been exponentially more tragic,\u201d Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police identified the alleged gunman as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was in custody and being treated for injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A law enforcement official said the suspect used an AR-15-style semiautomatic weapon in the attack, but a handgun and additional ammunition magazines also were recovered. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Club Q on its Facebook page thanked the \u201cquick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.\u201d Investigators were still determining a motive and whether to prosecute it as a hate crime, said El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen. Charges against the suspect will likely include first-degree murder, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already\u00a0questions were being raised\u00a0about why authorities didn\u2019t seek to take Aldrich\u2019s guns away from him in 2021, when he was arrested after his mother reported he threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons. Though authorities at the time said no explosives were found, gun control advocates are asking why police didn\u2019t try to trigger Colorado\u2019s \u201cred flag\u201d law, which would have allowed authorities to seize the weapons his mother says he had. There\u2019s also no public record prosecutors ever moved forward with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Aldrich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witness describes the scene of nightclub shooting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witness to nightclub shooting says his community is shattered because of the violence that took place; describes running to a dressing room with others to hide. (AP video shot by Thomas Peipert) (Nov. 20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Of the 25 injured at Club Q, at least seven were in critical condition, authorities said. Some were hurt trying to flee, and it was unclear if all of them were shot, a police spokesperson said. Suthers said there was \u201creason to hope\u201d all of those hospitalized would recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shooting rekindled memories of\u00a0the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida,\u00a0that killed 49 people. Colorado has experienced several mass killings, including at Columbine High School in 1999, a movie theater in suburban Denver in 2012 and at a Boulder supermarket last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the sixth mass killing this month and came in a year when the nation was shaken by the\u00a0deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities were called to Club Q at 11:57 p.m. Saturday with a report of a shooting, and the first officer arrived at midnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joshua Thurman said he was in the club with about two dozen other people and was dancing when the shots began. He initially thought it was part of the music, until he heard another shot and said he saw the flash of a gun muzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thurman, 34, said he ran with another person to a dressing room where someone already was hiding. They locked the door, turned off the lights and got on the floor but could hear the violence unfolding, including the gunman getting beaten up, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI could have lost my life \u2014 over what? What was the purpose?\u201d he said as tears ran down his cheeks. \u201cWe were just enjoying ourselves. We weren\u2019t out harming anyone. We were in our space, our community, our home, enjoying ourselves like everybody else does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detectives were examining whether anyone had helped the suspect before the attack, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said. He said patrons who intervened during the attack were \u201cheroic\u201d and prevented more deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Club Q is a gay and lesbian nightclub that features a drag show on Saturdays, according to its website. Club Q\u2019s Facebook page said planned entertainment included a \u201cpunk and alternative show\u201d preceding a birthday dance party, with a Sunday all-ages drag brunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drag events have become\u00a0a focus of anti-LGBTQ\u00a0rhetoric and\u00a0protests\u00a0recently as opponents, including politicians, have proposed banning children from them, falsely claiming they\u2019re used to \u201cgroom\u201d children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To substantiate a hate-crime charge against Aldrich, prosecutors would have to prove he was motivated by the victims\u2019 actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. So far, the suspect has not been cooperative in interviews with investigators and has not given them clear insight yet about the motivation for the attack, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden said that while the motive for the shootings was not yet clear, \u201cwe know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlaces that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence,\u201d he said. \u201cWe cannot and must not tolerate hate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man to be elected a U.S. governor in 2018, called the shooting \u201csickening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured and traumatized,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A makeshift memorial sprang up Sunday near the club, with flowers, a stuffed animal, candles and a sign saying \u201cLove over hate\u201d next to a rainbow-colored heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth Stang was buying flowers for the memorial when he was told that two of the dead were his friends. The 34-year-old transgender man said it was like having \u201ca bucket of hot water getting dumped on you. … I\u2019m just tired of running out of places where we can exist safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Johnson, who lives near the club and was there last month, said it was one of only two nightspots for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of the go-to for pride,\u201d the 26-year-old said of the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colorado Springs, a city of about 480,000 located 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Denver, is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Olympic Training Center, as well as Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical Christian ministry that lobbies against LGBTQ rights. The group condemned the shooting and said it \u201cexposes the evil and wickedness inside the human heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2015, three people were killed and eight wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the city when authorities say a gunman targeted the clinic because it performed abortions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shooting came during\u00a0Transgender Awareness Week\u00a0and just at the start of Sunday\u2019s\u00a0International Transgender Day of Remembrance, when events around the world are held to mourn and remember transgender people lost to violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2006, there have been 523 mass killings and 2,727 deaths as of Nov. 19, according to\u00a0The Associated Press\/USA Today database on mass killings in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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