Colorado Springs Shooting.

News | Aleena Reddy | November 27th, 2022.

On November 19th, five people were killed in a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 25 others were injured, 19 by gunfire. This hate crime took place on the eve of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Club Q is an LGBTQ nightclub that “felt like a haven in a conservative city long known for anti-gay activism,” according to members of the queer community in Colorado Springs. The club has been open for 20 years, and an article by Denver-based magazine 5280 described it as a place "where LGBTQ folks [went] for drag performances, dance parties, and drinks.”

The shooting began at 11:56 pm on Saturday night, when the shooter entered the club during a dance party with an AR-15 rifle. Minutes after the gunshots began, two patrons of the club— Richard Fierro and Thomas James— tackled the gunman and helped disarm him. One of the men “took the handgun from the [shooter] and hit him with the handgun to disable him,” said John Suthers, the mayor of Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez described their actions as heroic. Authorities identified the five victims as Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, Derrick Rump and Ashley Green Paugh. They will be greatly missed and forever remembered.

The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, was taken into custody at 12:02 AM. They are facing ten felony counts— two charges of murder and bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury for each of the five subjects. On June 18th, 2021, Aldrich was arrested for engaging in a lengthy standoff with the police after threatening to hurt their mother with a homemade bomb. However, no charges were filed. The suspect’s lawyers noted that their client identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, while friends of the shooter claim that this is merely a ploy to beat the hate crime allegations.

This attack has shaken LGBTQ+ communities across the country. Six years after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people and wounded 53 others, hate still pervades the nation. Jenna Ellis, Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer, was heavily criticized for saying that the five victims were "reaping the consequences of having eternal damnation.” President Biden has urged Congress to pass the Equality Act, saying that there “is no place for violence, hatred, and bigotry in America. Yet, tragically, as [the] attack in Colorado Springs reminds us, too many LGBTQI+ people in the United States — and around the world — continue to face unconscionable attacks." Government officials are now demanding tighter gun control legislation— specifically, an assault weapons ban to prevent more mass murders like the Colorado Springs shooting.