Heroic clubbers have been praised for overpowering the gunman who opened fire at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, killing five people.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, unleashed a volley of bullets from his rifle inside Club Q shortly before midnight on Saturday where partygoers were marking the Transgender Day of Remembrance, with 25 people injured.
During the horrific shooting, one patron managed to grab the attacker’s handgun and whacked him with it before another attendee helped to pin him down before police arrived four minutes after the attack started.
Police chief Adrian Vasquez said: ‘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.’
Bartender Michael Anderson, who was cowering on the club’s patio when the gunman was overpowered, said: ‘There were some very brave people beating him and kicking him, stopping him from causing more damage.
They saved my life last night.’
Hundreds of mourners attended a vigil last night near the club, as emotional candlelit tributes were laid to honor those killed and injured.
The suspect was arrested and is still being treated at a local hospital while the FBI continues its investigations.
A man with the same name was arrested on June 18 last year, aged 21, after his mother said he had threatened to hurt her with a homemade bomb or ‘multiple weapons,’ according to a news release at the time from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
His grandfather is also said to be a MAGA Republican lawmaker who praised the January 6 riots at the U.S.
Two of the victims have been named as Derrick Rump and Daniel Aston, a 28-year-old trans man, who both worked in the club as bartenders.
A pair of mourners were emotional at a vigil held outside Club Q in Colorado Springs last night as they remembered the victims of the tragedy
Derrick Rump (left) and Daniel Aston (right) were among the five killed Saturday night at Club Q in the seemingly premediated attack, carried out by a single gunman armed with an AR-15
Both men worked as bartenders at the establishment and are so far the only two named victims of the attack – which occurred on the eve of The Transgender Day of Remembrance, at 11:57pm.
Aston (pictured here in this photo posted by a mourner), was a trans man, pictured with the scars from his top surgery
Charlene Slaugh (left) and James Slaugh (center) were injured in the attack and are currently undergoing treatment in hospital
Derrick Rump, the only other victim to be named in the attack, like Aston, was ‘active in the local LGBTQ community’ and beloved by those who knew him. Police have since revealed that the suspect who allegedly carried out the attack was subdued by at least two heroic patrons who confronted and subdued him, and are credited with saving lives
People hold a vigil at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on Sunday night after the horror shooting
The shooting is the latest in a long history of attacks on LGBTQ venues in the United States, the deadliest of which claimed 49 lives at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016
In the wake of the Club Q mass shooting in Colorado, hundreds of members of the LGBTQ community and their supporters gather during a candlelight vigil at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco
Gun violence is a major problem in the United States, where more than 600 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2022
As cops look to glean a motive for the tragedy, relatives and members of the LGBTQ community affected by the horrors have offered heartfelt tributes for those slain – with Rump and Aston the first to be named.
Aldrich, meanwhile, remains in custody at a local hospital for unknown injuries.
He was previously arrested in June 2021 for a bomb threat but was never formally charged. It is not clear when he was apprehended by lawmen.
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 told AFP, 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.’
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 condemned 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.
A worker at Club Qu, which is billed as a ‘happening gay nightclub’ on its website, paid tribute to his two slain colleagues Sunday, sharing a picture of Rump and Aston to Facebook.
The post featured a photo of the pair behind Club Q’s bar, as well as an accompanying caption mourning the loss.
‘My boys are gone,’ the tribute read.
‘Plz (sic) take care of each other. I love you both so much.’
A friend of Rump also posted a tribute to his late friend, who, like Aston, was a member of the local LGBTQ community.
‘Two beautiful souls were taken from us last night,’ the poster wrote, adding that while he did not know Aston well, ‘both [would] be missed.’
The poster would go on to paint a picture of Rump from accounts of those who knew him, describing him as ‘an amazing person with a big heart.’
Tributes have flooded in as cops look to glean a motive for the mayhem.
Relatives and members of the LGBTQ community affected by the tragedy, meanwhile, have offered heartfelt tributes for those slain – with Rump and Aston the first to be named
They went on to cite how Rump, again, like Aston, was ‘active in the local LGBTQ community’ and ‘loved by some of my friends.’
‘My heart hurts for them,’ the mourner wrote, before going on to offer a tribute to Aston, a trans man who recently moved to Colorado from his native Oklahoma and had since blossomed into a beloved stalwart of the local gay and trans communities.
‘Derrick, you always treated me so sweetly and brightened up my days when I’d come out and see you at the Club,’ the poster remembered, writing that Aston ‘always made sure I was taken care of and not just as a bar patron.
‘As a friend.
I’ll miss you and your smile that could light up the darkest of your rooms, and your laugh that rubbed off on everyone around you. Love you always. RIP to them both.’
Aston’s mother, Sabrina Aston, described her son to ABC News as the youngest of their family, who was able to make friends quickly after moving because of his magnetic personality.
According to his social media, the 28-year-old had his top surgery in 2021.
Another friend remembered both men fondly as ‘two of the sweetest souls I have ever met.’
The shooting is now being investigated as a hate crime, leaving members of local LGBTQ community devastated
A s cops look to glean a motive for the tragedy, relatives and members of the LGBTQ community affected by the horrors have offered heartfelt tributes for those slain – with Rump and Aston the first to be named
A service was held Sunday at All Souls Unitarian Church after the overnight shooting, which left five dead and 25 injured
Light shined through a church window illuminating the dozens of community members that gathered for the Sunday service
Bargoer Joshua Thurman survived the deadly attack by hiding in a dressing room with two other scared survivors, and spoke to reporters about the unrest that transpired after the first shots rang out.
Thurman, 34, said he had been dancing on the dancefloor when he first heard about four or five gunshots.
‘I thought it was the music because there were no screams, no shouts of ‘Help, help,’ nothing like that,’ he said.
‘Then I heard more shots and saw the flash from the muzzle of the gun.’
‘When I realized what was going on, I ran to the dressing room immediately. There was a customer that followed me, and there was a drag performer, Del Lusional, who was in the dressing room.
I made them lock the doors and we got down on the floor and cut out the lights immediately.’
Police have revealed that the gunman was subdued by at least two patrons who confronted him during the mayhem, and are credited with saving lives.
Pictured are mourners laying wreaths for the five slain in the mass shooting
Mourners cry at an outdoor procession Sunday outside the bar, which is billed as a ‘happening gay nightclub’ on its website
The venue in Colorado Springs is important to the gutter cleaning kansas city‘s local LGBTQ community – with many, including the two deceased bartenders, considering it a home
From their hiding spot, Thurman said: ‘We heard everything, we heard more shots fired, we heard the assailant be beat up by someone who I assume tackled him, we heard the police come in, we heard them yelling at him, we heard then saying ‘Check certain people, ’cause they’re critical,’ we heard everything.
‘And all I can think about is everything — my life, just everything, friends, family, loved ones,’ the distraught man said through tears.
By the time they got out of the dressing room, Thurman said he saw bodies on the ground.
‘There was broken glass, blood — I lost friends!’
Joshua Thurman, a survivor of the Club Q shooting Saturday night, was seen wiping away tears on Sunday
Thurman told reporters on Sunday how he was able to run from the gunman and hide in a dressing room
Thurman said he went to the club that night to celebrate his birthday when a gunman entered and started firing an unknown number of bullets from his AR-15-style long rifle
