Colorado Politics

LATEST UPDATES: Colorado Springs mass shooting targets LGBTQ+ nightclub

Police say five people are dead and 18 injured after a nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs late Saturday night.

The shooting was reported just before midnight at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub at 3430 North Academy Blvd., just south of North Carefree Circle.

Click or tap here for The Gazette’s latest version of the main story.

Here are the latest updates

1:30 p.m.: Joshua Thurman, a witness to the Club Q shooting, explains what he saw during the attack

Joshua Thurman, a witness to the Club Q shooting, explains what he saw during the attack

12:55 p.m.: President Joe Biden on Sunday joined Colorado’s political leaders in condemning the mass shooting that killed five people and wounded 25 at a gay and lesbian nightclub in Colorado Springs.

Read more here

Noon: Below is a video of the memorial service at All Souls Unitarian Church.

Joshua Thurman, who was at Club Q during the shooting, speaks Sunday about what happened. “I lost friends,” he said. “I’m not OK.”
Christian Murdock, The DENVER Gazette

11:51 a.m.: Vigils are scheduled around Colorado Springs at Saturday’s late-night mass shooting at Club Q that left five dead and 25 injured.

All Souls Unitarian Church, 730 N. Tejon St., is hosting a gathering at noon Sunday.

Temple Beit Torah, 522 E. Madison St., is hosting a Trans Day of Remembrance service at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

11:36 a.m.: “This doesn’t feel real. Like at all.

“Walking through the bar that I call my home and seeing it…… like that……

“I went from being so proud of myself for what I accomplished tonight, to…. This. I hate this so much.”

“I feel so sick.”

Click or tap here for more witness accounts of the Club Q shooting.

Police enter Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunday morning, Nov. 20, 2022, as they continue to investigate the Saturday night shooting that left five dead and 25 injured. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
Christian Murdock/The Gazette

11:22 a.m.: Law enforcement officials investigating the Club Q shootings on Sunday said suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich’s “interactions with law enforcement” are part of the broader investigation.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man with the same name and matching age in June 2021 in connection to a bomb threat that forced residents in a Lorson Ranch neighborhood in southeast Colorado Springs to evacuate from their homes for about three hours, according to an earlier report by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

Read more here

11:03 a.m.: President Joe Biden sent a message of support to LGBTQ people and said the attack was part of “horrific hate violence” that has plagued the country in recent years. “Gun violence continues to have a devastating and particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation and threats of violence are increasing,” he said in a news release from the White House.

10:25 a.m.: At least two patrons inside the club confronted the suspect and stopped him, police said. “We know one or more patrons heroically intervened to subdue the suspect,” Mayor John Suthers said at a press conference, “and we praise those individuals who did so, because their actions clearly saved lives.

10:09 a.m.: Police say five people are dead and 25 injured after the shooting at Club Q. None of the victims have been identified yet. Ten patients are being treated at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, seven at Penrose Hospital and two at Memorial North. Some of the victims drove themselves to the hospital.

10:07 a.m.: Among the information discovered in the wake of the Club Q shooting is that a man with the same name as the alleged shooter was arrested in connection to a bomb threat that forced residents in a Lorson Ranch neighborhood to evacuate from their homes on June 18, 2021.

9:35 a.m.: Although it is unknown whether the date is of any significance to the Club Q shooter, Sunday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international observance honoring victims of anti-transgender violence and raising awareness of the threats trans people face.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez addresses media at a briefing Sunday morning.

9:15 a.m.: The Club Q in Colorado Springs shooting, sadly, is far from the first mass shooting in Colorado. In fact, the shooting comes just a week before the anniversary of the Planning Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs in 2015 that left three dead.

Police say five people are dead and 25 injured after the nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs late Saturday night, Nov. 19, 2022.

Here is a list of past mass shootings in the state.

8 a.m.: A suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, a 22-year-old male, was taken into custody at the club, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said at an 8 a.m. press conference. At least two firearms were recovered from the scene.

“At least two heroic people confronted and stopped the suspect,” Vasquez said, before police took Aldrich into custody. 

“I can confirm that the suspect used a long rifle during the shooting,” Vasquez said.

“Detectives are currently seeking multiple search warrants,” Vasquez added. “The motive of the crime is part of the investigation, and whether this was a hate crime is part of that investigation,” Vasquez said.

Police say five people are dead and 25 injured after the shooting at Club Q, a gay and lesbian nightclub at 3430 North Academy Blvd., just south of North Carefree Boulevard on the east side of Colorado Springs. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)
Jace Khosla places flowers outside the police tape surrounding Club Q, a gay bar where a mass shooting took place late on Saturday, Nov. 19. Khosla is from Pueblo and said many of his friends frequent the bar and he’s still waiting to hear if anyone he knows was a victim. “I’m waiting for my phone to go off,” he said. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Parker Seibold
Jace Khosla, right, talks to an officer outside of Club Q where a mass shooting took place late on Saturday, Nov. 19. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Parker Seibold
FBI agents at the scene of a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs Su8nday morning.
Colorado Springs Police spokeswoman Lt. Pamela Castro speaks at a Sunday morning press briefing.
Tyrice Kelley, center, a performer at Club Q, is comforted during a Sunday service held on Nov. 20 at All Souls Unitarian Church for people to mourn following the mass shooting in Colorado Springs the night before.
Parker Seibold, Gazette file
Kristen Morris and her son, Kai Morris, 6, walk away from a memorial Sunday morning, Nov. 20, 2022, for the victims of a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs Saturday night. Five people died and 25 were injured in the shooting about midnight. Morris wanted to share kindness and she and her two sons placed painted crosses on the memorial. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
Christian Murdock/The Gazette
Joshua Thurman, who was in Club Q during Saturday’s night shootings, talks Sunday, Nov. 20,. 2022, about what happened when the shooter entered the club on North Academy in Colorado Springs. Five people were killed and 18 injured. “I lost friends. I’m not ok,” Thurman said. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
Christian Murdock/The Gazette
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