Colorado Springs mass shooting: 5 dead, 25 injured at LGBTQ nightclub; Anderson Lee Aldrich identified as suspect - CBS News

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A 22-year-old gunman opened occurrence successful a cheery nightclub successful Colorado Springs, sidesplitting 5 radical and leaving much than 2 twelve injured earlier helium was subdued by "heroic" patrons and arrested by constabulary who were connected the country wrong minutes, authorities said Sunday.

At a quality league Sunday morning, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez identified the fishy arsenic 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was being treated for injuries.

Describing the nightclub, Club Q, arsenic "a harmless haven for our LGBTQ citizens," Vasquez said the fishy began shooting astatine patrons instantly aft helium entered the venue. As helium moved further inside, astatine slightest 2 radical confronted and fought him, stopping him from firing. The fishy utilized a "long rifle" and authorities recovered astatine slightest 1 different firearm erstwhile they arrived astatine the scene, according to the constabulary chief.

City officials said 25 radical successful full were injured. Of those 25, astatine slightest 7 were successful captious condition, authorities said. Some were wounded trying to flee, and it was unclear if each of the victims were shot, a constabulary spokesperson said.

Investigators were inactive determining a motive, and the onslaught was being investigated to spot if it should beryllium prosecuted arsenic a hatred crime, said El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen. Charges against the fishy "will apt see first-degree murder," helium said.

The unit is the sixth wide sidesplitting this period and comes successful a twelvemonth erstwhile the federation was shaken by the deaths of 21 successful a schoolhouse shooting successful Uvalde, Texas.

In effect to the shooting, President Biden again called connected elected officials to instrumentality enactment to halt weapon unit and reiterated the request for a prohibition connected battle weapons. He besides lamented that the shooting joins different convulsive attacks connected the LGBTQ community, including the 2016 onslaught astatine the Pulse nightclub successful Orlando, Florida, and against transgender women.

"Places that are expected to beryllium harmless spaces of acceptance and solemnisation should ne'er beryllium turned into places of panic and violence. Yet it happens acold excessively often," helium said successful a statement. "We indispensable thrust retired the inequities that lend to unit against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and indispensable not tolerate hate."

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who was successful COVID-19 isolation, called the shooting "horrific, sickening, and devastating" successful a statement, and said that "every authorities assets is disposable to section instrumentality enforcement successful Colorado Springs."

"We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman, apt redeeming lives successful the process, and for the archetypal responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting," Polis said.

Club Q is simply a cheery and lesbian nightclub that features a "Drag Diva Drag Show" connected Saturdays, according to its website. In summation to the resistance show, Club Q's Facebook leafage said planned amusement included a "punk and alternate show" preceding a day creation party, with a Sunday "all ages brunch."

Drag events person go a absorption of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and protests successful caller months arsenic opponents, including politicians, person projected banning children from specified events and falsely assertion they're being utilized to "groom" children.

Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed connected the shooting, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said. The FBI said it was assisting but said the constabulary section was starring the investigation.

Although a motive wasn't yet clear, nor were the sex identities of the victims, the incidental came arsenic anti-gay rhetoric has intensified by extremists. In a statement, Club Q termed the shooting a hatred attack.

"Club Q is devastated by the senseless onslaught connected our community," the club posted on its Facebook page. It said its prayers were with victims and families, adding: "We convey the speedy reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hatred attack."

The CEO of a nationalist LGBTQ-rights organization, Kevin Jennings of Lambda Legal, reacted with a plea for tighter restrictions connected guns.

"America's toxic premix of bigotry and absurdly casual entree to firearms means that specified events are each excessively communal and LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC communities, the Jewish assemblage and different susceptible populations wage the terms again and again for our governmental leadership's nonaccomplishment to act," helium said successful a statement. "We indispensable basal unneurotic to request meaningful enactment earlier yet different calamity strikes our nation."

The shooting came during Transgender Awareness Week and hours earlier Sunday's International Transgender Day of Remembrance, erstwhile events astir the satellite are held to mourn and retrieve transgender radical mislaid to violence. The Colorado Springs shooting was definite to bring peculiar resonance to those events.

Colorado Springs is simply a metropolis of astir 480,000 located astir 70 miles southbound of Denver that is location to the U.S. Air Force Academy, arsenic good arsenic Focus connected the Family, a salient evangelical Christian ministry.

In November 2015, 3 radical were killed and 8 wounded astatine a Planned Parenthood session successful the metropolis erstwhile authorities accidental a antheral opened occurrence due to the fact that helium wanted to wage "war" connected the session due to the fact that it performed abortions.

The motive down Saturday's shooting was not instantly known but it brought backmost memories of the massacre astatine the Pulse nightclub that killed 49 people. And it occurred successful a authorities that has experienced respective notorious wide killings, including astatine Columbine High School successful 1999, a movie theatre successful suburban Denver successful 2012 and astatine a Boulder supermarket past year.

In June, 31 members of the neo-Nazi radical Patriot Front were arrested successful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and charged with conspiracy to riot astatine a Pride event. Experts warned that extremist groups could spot anti-gay rhetoric arsenic a telephone to action.

The erstwhile month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his tiny Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender radical should beryllium executed by the government, which lined up with akin sermons from a Texas fundamentalist pastor.

There person been 523 wide killings since 2006 resulting successful 2,727 deaths arsenic of Nov. 19, according to The Associated Press/USA Today database connected wide killings successful the U.S.