CNN –
A 22-year-old gunman killed at least five people and injured 25 others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., shortly before midnight Saturday, police said Sunday.
The suspect in the Club Q shooting has been identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, according to Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.
Upon entering the club, he immediately opened fire before at least two people inside the club confronted and fought, preventing further violence, Vasquez said.
“We owe them a huge debt of gratitude,” he said.
Aldrich is being treated at a hospital, police said. The officers did not shoot him, police said.
Colorado has seen some of the worst mass shootings in US history, including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Last year in Colorado Springs, a mass shooting at a birthday party left six dead.
Here’s what we know about the deadly attack in Colorado Springs:
The violence lasted only a few minutes. Police received numerous 911 calls beginning at 11:56 p.m., officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m., an officer arrived at midnight and the suspect was taken into custody at 12:02 a.m., police said. A total of 39 patrol officers responded, police said, and Fire Department Capt. Mike Smaldino said 11 ambulances went to the scene.
Aldrich used a long rifle in the shooting, and two firearms were found at the scene, said Vasquez, the police chief.
Joshua Thurman told CNN affiliate KOAA that he was dancing inside the club when he heard gunshots and saw muzzle fire.
“I thought it was the music, so I kept dancing,” she said. When he heard another round of gunfire, Thurman said he ran into a locker room to hide.
He said he heard the sounds of more gunshots, people crying and windows breaking. When he came out, he saw bodies lying on the ground, broken glass and blood, Thurman said.
Authorities initially said 18 people were injured, but later adjusted that total to 25.
Nineteen of the 25 injured had gunshot wounds, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday. Based on communication with medical personnel, Suthers said he hopes the injured victims survive and the community is “crossing its fingers” that there are no more fatalities.
Police said they were investigating whether the attack was a hate crime, noting Club Q’s relationship with the LGBTQ community. The shooting came as the calendar turned to Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday.
“The Q Club is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens,” Vasquez said. “Every citizen has the right to feel safe and protected in our city, to walk around our beautiful city without fear of being harmed or treated badly.”
In a statement on social media, Club Q said it was “devastated by the senseless attack on our community” and thanked “the quick reactions of the heroic customers who subdued the gunman and put an end to this hateful attack.”
Two law enforcement sources confirmed that the alleged nightclub shooter’s date of birth and name match a person who was arrested for a bomb threat the previous year, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also told CNN that believed they were the same: “Everything I’ve heard indicates it’s the same person,” Polis said.
Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 after a standoff at a Colorado Springs home where his mother lived, according to an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office press release at the time, and the ‘former owner of his mother.
Video obtained by CNN shows Aldrich surrendering to law enforcement last year after making a bomb threat. Footage from the homeowner’s Ring door camera shows Aldrich exiting the home with his hands up and barefoot, and walking toward sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff’s deputies said in the June release that they responded to a report from Aldrich’s mother that he was “threatening to harm her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons and ammunition.”
Deputies called the suspect and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the news release said, prompting them to evacuate nearby homes.
Several hours after the initial police call, the sheriff’s crisis negotiation unit managed to get Aldrich to leave the home he was in and he was arrested after walking out the front door. Authorities did not find any explosives in the home.
It was not immediately clear how the case was resolved. But the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that the district attorney’s office said no formal charges were filed in the case. The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.
Aldrich also called the Gazette to try to get a previous story about the 2021 incident removed from the website, the paper reported. “Absolutely nothing, the case was dropped and I’m asking you to remove or update the story,” Aldrich said in a voicemail, according to The Gazette.
Attempts by CNN to reach Aldrich’s mother for comment were unsuccessful.
Club Q opened in 2002 and was, until recently, the only LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs.
The city is the second most populous in the state with just under 500,000 inhabitants and hosts several military bases. It is home to Focus on the Family, the conservative Christian group that says homosexuality and same-sex marriage are sins.
In a July 2020 interview with the Colorado Springs Indy, Club Q owner Nic Grzecka said he and his business partner opened the club to secure a “permanent” location in the city.
The venue also hosts events for people of all ages, including a brunch and an upcoming Thanksgiving event.
Tiana Nicole Dykes, a lifelong resident of Colorado Springs, called Club Q “a second home full of chosen family.”
“I’m there every other week, if not every week. This space means the world to me. The energy, the people, the message. It’s an incredible place that didn’t deserve this tragedy,” Dykes told CNN on Sunday. “Something like a mass shooting in an LGBT+ safe space is damaging beyond belief. There are feelings of disrespect, disbelief and just pure shock. No one ever thinks it’s going to happen to them, and sometimes it does.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and the nation’s first openly gay governor, issued a statement Sunday calling the attack “horrific, sickening and devastating” and offered state resources to local law enforcement.
“We are eternally grateful for the brave people who blocked the gunman likely saving lives in the process and for the first responders who quickly responded to this terrible shooting,” he said. “Colorado stands with our LGBTQ community and all those affected by this tragedy as we mourn together.”
Polis told CNN’s Jim Acosta that there are only two gay bars in Colorado Springs and Club Q was one of the top spots.
“Everyone knew it. I knew, I knew this place. It’s just shocking. This still gets to people. But I know we will recover. We are showing love to each other. We are showing healing for each other,” the governor said.
Colorado’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, offered their condolences in statements and said more should be done for the LGBTQ community.
“We must protect LGBTQ lives from this hate,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper.
“As we seek justice for this unimaginable act, we must do more to protect the LGBTQ community and stand firm against discrimination and hate in all its forms,” said Senator Michael Bennett.
President Joe Biden also issued a statement saying he was praying for the victims and their families.
“While the motive for this attack remains unclear, we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years. Gun violence continues to have a particularly devastating impact on LGBTQI+ communities in across our country and threats of violence are escalating,” Biden said in the written statement.