Five people were killed and at least 25 others injured after a shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQIA+ nightlife venue in Colorado Springs this past weekend. It is suspected to have been a hate crime.
The shooting happened just before midnight on Saturday, following a drag performance at the club, with the attacker opening fire on the club. Police were called at 23:57 PM.
According to witnesses, two attendees at the club managed to intercept the attack. The two people are being hailed as ‘heroic’ after they confronted and fought with the attacker, managing to disarm him and using the gun to disable him.
Police took the suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, into custody. Aldrich had previously been brought to police attention last year, after threatening his mother with “a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition.”
Speaking to CNN, a local member of Colorado Springs’s queer community Cole Danielson said that the queer community no longer feels safe. “This space is really the only place in Colorado Springs that the LGBTQ+ community can get together and be ourselves,” he said, referring to Club Q. “Our safety as queer people in Colorado Springs is now questioned. I’m scared to be myself as a trans man in this community.”
The attack took place on the eve of Transgender Day Of Rememberance, a day honouring the memories of those murdered in hate crimes and transphobic acts of aggression.
Read a statement from Club Q and GLAAD below.
