Colorado: A gunman opened fire late Saturday inside an LGBTQ nightspot in Colorado Springs, killing at least five people and injuring 25 others.
Authorities said Sunday they were investigating whether the attack was motivated by hate. Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich and said he used a "long rifle". According to officials, he was taken into police custody soon after the shooting began and is being treated for injuries.
The shooting is reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse club massacre when a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was fatally shot by police.
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It came as LGBTQ communities and allies around the world prepared on Sunday to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual ritual to honor victims of transphobic violence. Club Q, a long-standing venue in a modest strip mall, was described as a safe haven for the LGBTQ community in Colorado's second largest city.
Police said the initial call about the shooting came in just before midnight, and the suspect was apprehended within minutes thanks to the quick action of law enforcement and the bravery of at least two patrons who intervened.
The shooter was armed with a rifle, a military-style flak jacket and six magazines of ammunition, the New York Times reported, citing club owners who said they did not know the man. Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez told a news conference on Sunday that several guns, including a rifle, were found at the scene.
Joshua Thurman, a patron, told reporters he was dancing at the club when he first heard the gunshots. She took refuge in a dressing room and locked herself in with the others, praying for her life and thinking of her loved ones.
"We heard everything," Thurman said. “We heard more shots fired. We heard the assailant being beaten by someone who I assumed had dealt with him. We heard the police coming in. We heard them shouting at him. We heard them say, 'Take some people because they are critical.'"
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The condition of many of the injured is critical and they are undergoing treatment at local hospitals, officials said. Club Q called the incident a "despicable attack" in a statement on Facebook and thanked "gallant customers" for subduing the gunman. violence condemned
Concern has grown within many LGBTQ communities in the United States amid a divisive political climate and following a number of threats and violent incidents targeting LGBTQ people and events in recent months.
President Joe Biden condemned the violence, saying in a statement that Americans should not tolerate hate. "Places that are supposed to be safe places of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence," Biden said.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who in 2018 became the first openly gay person in the country to be elected as governor, called the shooting a "senseless act of evil."
"I feel the same pit in my stomach that many of you do today, sadly all too familiar," Polis said in a video appearance held at a local church.
A spokesman for the city of Colorado Springs said officials were aware of a 2021 bomb threat involving a man with the same name and date of birth as the suspect, but have not officially confirmed he is the same .
Colorado has a grim history of mass violence, including a 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, a 2012 rampage inside a movie theater in a Denver suburb that killed 10 people last year.
Mourners laid flowers outside the club on Sunday as Colorado Springs resident Mark Travis, a former police chaplain, played "Tap" on his bugle.
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Travis said of the club, "We can go in and forget about work and everything else and just feel like it's a home." He added that the shooting had taken away his sense of comfort. "It's like, I think, there's a burglary or something worse. You're not even safe in your own home."