Anderson Lee Aldrich kills at least five people and injures 25 others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado. While the perpetrator remains silent, the number of victims threatens to continue to rise. According to investigators, however, the man has already appeared before the police.
The death toll threatens to rise after the attack on guests at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. Some of the injured were life-threatening, police said. A 22-year-old armed with a gun had entered Club Q and shot at the people celebrating there. At least five people died and 25 others were injured. According to the police, the perpetrator was arrested after being overpowered by “heroic” guests.
His motive was initially unclear. US President Joe Biden condemned the act and denounced violence against homosexuals and transgender people. According to police spokeswoman Pamela Castro, the officers arrived at the club four minutes after the first emergency call, and the attacker was overpowered two minutes later. He is currently being treated at a local hospital. Eyewitnesses described how the perpetrator immediately started shooting before some guests intervened.
They punched and kicked him and prevented him from “doing any more damage,” said bartender Michael Anderson, who was crouching on the porch when the shooter was subdued. “You saved my life.” Joshua Thurman, a frequent visitor from Colorado Springs, was still in shock hours later. “It was scary,” he told reporters. “There were dead bodies on the ground. There were broken glass, broken mugs, people crying.” The club was a “protected place” for him, Thurman said. “Where should we go now?”
Aeron Laney was at the club for the first time since moving to the Rocky Mountain town. She knew immediately that she would feel comfortable there, the 24-year-old told the AFP news agency. Guests and staff seemed to know each other well: “Everyone was having fun, smiling, laughing.” She couldn’t understand how someone could come into the club, see the happy people who felt comfortable with each other – “and just want to end it”. It was initially unclear whether it was a hate crime against homosexuals or transsexuals.
Authorities have not yet officially classified the attack as a hate crime, but said the 22-year-old perpetrator could face murder charges. The FBI got involved in the investigation. Investigators gave the shooter’s name as Anderson Lee Aldrich. A 21-year-old man of the same name was arrested on June 18 last year, according to a press release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time. Accordingly, his mother had stated that he had threatened to injure her with a homemade bomb or “several weapons”.
It was initially unclear how many people were in the small club in Colorado Springs at the time of the attack. Its operators were shocked on Facebook by the “senseless attack on our community”. The club had previously announced a celebration to commemorate the “victims of transphobia” – November 20 is celebrated worldwide as “Transgender Day of Remembrance”. The English abbreviation LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.