COLORADO SPRINGS (CelebrityAccess) – Another day, another mass shooting in the US. On Saturday (November 19), a man walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs, CO, just before midnight and began to fire into the crowd. That decision caused five deaths and injured 25 others before club patrons stepped in and stopped him, reported the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22 used a long rifle in the shooting, and two firearms were found at the scene, said Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.
At least two people inside the club confronted and then fought the gunman to prevent further violence. Vasquez told KRDO. “We owe them a great deal of thanks,” he said.
As of press time, the Club Q website reads:
Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community. Our prayers and thoughts are with all victims, their families, and their friends. We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.
Police noted that they were investigating the incident as a hate crime, noting Club Q’s relationship with the LGBTQ community in the area. “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.”
Some of the most tragic mass shootings have occurred in the state of CO – Columbine High School, the Aurora theater shooting, and a Planned Parenthood shooting that left three dead.
KOAA spoke to Joshua Thurman, who was in attendance, “I thought it was the music, so I kept dancing. Then I heard another set of shots, and then me and a customer ran to the dressing room, got on the ground and locked the doors, and called the police immediately.”
The violence lasted just minutes, but in the end – it left 18 of the 25 injured with gunshot wounds and five dead. The suspect was detained and is currently being treated at a local hospital, police said.
Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 in connection with threatening his own mother with a bomb, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office’s press release. Aldrich was arrested on charges of felony menacing and first-degree kidnapping.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report by the man’s mother that he was “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to the release. Deputies called the suspect, and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the release said.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, issued a statement calling the attack “horrific, sickening, and devastating.”
“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.
“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.”
