The shooter who opened fire inside an LGBTQ Colorado nightclub, killing at least five, was stopped by two “heroic” people inside the club, police told a news conference on Sunday.
They identified the suspect as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, and said he had used a rifle at the club, where partygoers were apparently marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, which pays tribute to trans people targeted in violent attacks.
Eighteen people were wounded in the incident shortly before midnight on Saturday, police said, adding that an unspecified number of the wounded remained in a critical condition.
Photo: AFP
The shooting was the latest in a long history of attacks on LGBTQ venues in the US, the deadliest of which claimed 49 lives at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.
The suspect in Colorado Springs entered Club Q and immediately began shooting at people inside, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez told a news conference.
“At least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect, and were able to stop the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others,” he said.
Joshua Thurman of Colorado Springs was in the club at the time.
“It was so scary,” he told reporters. “There were bodies on the floor. There was shattered glass, broken cups, people crying.”
“It was supposed to be our safe space... Where are we supposed to go?” he asked.
Aeron Laney, 24, was at the club for the first time, having just moved to Colorado Springs.
She described a small club where everyone seemed to know each other, the kind of place she knew she would fit right in.
“Everyone was just having a good time and smiling and laughing,” she said, tearfully looking at the bank of flowers growing outside the club.
“I just can’t wrap my head around somebody just walking in and seeing people that are so happy and so comfortable in their community and just wanting to end that,” she said.
Laney and her friend Justin Godwin left minutes before the gunman stormed in.
“Maybe the guy was already there. Like was he in the parking lot... just planning it?” Godwin, 25, said. “It’s just terrifying.”
US President Joe Biden released a statement condemning the attack, slamming violence against the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender women of color.
“We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate,” he said.
Authorities said the suspect was being treated at a local hospital, but released no other information about him, adding that officials, including the FBI, are investigating.
A 21-year-old man with the same name was arrested on June 18 last year after his mother said he had threatened to hurt her with a homemade bomb or “multiple weapons,” El Paso County Sheriff’s Office news release said at the time.
Police spokeswoman Pamela Castro said that police received an initial call about an active shooting in the club at 11:56pm.
She said the first officer arrived within 4 minutes, and that the suspect had been subdued just 2 minutes later.
“Club Q is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens,” Vasquez said. “I’m so terribly saddened and heartbroken.”
Club Q said on Facebook that it was “devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” adding, “We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
Authorities said that the shooting had not yet been officially classified as a hate crime but that first-degree murder charges were certain to be filed.
Authorities could not immediately say how many people were in the club at the time.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS