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A gunman killed five people and injured 18 others during a mass shooting inside a LGBT+ nightclub in Colorado Springs on 19 November.
Police officers responded to the scene at 11.57pm after 911 dispatchers received “numerous” calls that there was an active shooter inside the club, according to Colorado Springs Police Department spokesperson Lt Pam Castro.
Club Q said it was “devastated” by the attack and called the incident a hate crime.
A post on the club’s Facebook page said that people inside the building helped stop the gunman.
“Our [prayers] and thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends,” according to a post on the club’s Facebook page. “We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was named as a suspect.
He allegedly used a long rifle to commit the attack.
The suspect “immediately began shooting” when he entered the club, according to Colorado Springs deputy chief Adrian Vasquez, speaking at a news conference on Sunday morning.
Drag performer Del Lusional hosted a punk and alternative show scheduled for 9pm, followed by a DJ and dancing from 11pm until the early morning hours.
“I was walking backstage when I heard the gunshots. I only saw the after math and even then, I didn’t wanna look,” Del Lusional wrote in a post on Twitter.
In another post, the performer said: “I never thought this would happen to me and my bar. I don’t know what to do with myself. I can’t stop hearing the shots.”
At least two “heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect,” according to Mr Vasquez.
“Their actions clearly saved lives,” added Mayor John Suthers.
One victim ran from the scene to a nearby 7-Eleven and collapsed, according to a witness who spoke with Colorado Public Radio.
“One of the victims had gotten shot seven times and ran over here … trying to get some help,” he said. “He collapsed. That’s why that caution tape is out in the front there.”
More than 30 firefighters and 11 ambulances responded to the scene, and ambulances transported three patients at a time to local hospitals.
The FBI also is assisting the Colorado Springs Police Department with an investigation.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, condemned the “horrific, sickening and devastating” mass shooting in a statement through his office.
“Colorado stands with our LGBT+ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn,” he wrote.
Club Q was scheduled to host an all-ages drag brunch in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday.
The club was set to host a “variety of gender identities and performance styles”.
Club Q also planned a “Friendsgiving Dinner” to provide free meals to people of all ages.
At least 300 transgender and gender non-conforming people in the US were killed within the last decade, according to a recent report from the Human Rights Campaign. Those deaths include 32 within 2022 alone.
The shooting evokes the massacre inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53, the deadliest attack on LGBT+ people in US history.
Colorado has been the site several mass shootings, including the 1999 shooting in Columbine High School and the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora.
Club Q is positioned in a relatively busy stretch of the city on a major thoroughfare near chain restaurants and pharmacies.
This is a developing story and will be updated