Police have named a suspect in the Saturday night shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs that killed five people.
The latest: Police said Monday 18 people were injured in the shooting, 17 of whom suffered gunshot wounds. The suspect in the deadly shooting is facing multiple murder and hate crime charges, according to Max D’Onofrio, a city spokesperson.
- "We know many more community members were present at Club Q during the shooting, who may be victims with no visible injuries. An example is a community member who ran out as the shooting occurred," the Colorado Springs Police Department said online.
- Police and city officials initially said Sunday 25 people had been wounded.
The big picture: Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told the Washington Post Monday that authorities don't have "any indication that the family is cooperating" with the investigation, referring to the suspect's relatives.
- The suspect's actions appear to have "the trappings of" a hate crime, Suthers added, but underscored that the motive remains unknown.
- Law enforcement said the suspect used an AR-15-style rifle in Club Q. Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told the New York Times Sunday evening the shooting ended when someone hit the suspect with a handgun they'd grabbed off him and pinned him down.
- "Had that individual not intervened this could have been exponentially more tragic," Suthers told AP.
For the record: Police identified the alleged shooter as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22. He was also wounded during the shooting and was in custody in a local hospital, police said.
- In June 2021, Aldrich had another run-in with law enforcement after he allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, weapons, and ammunition, AP reported.
- However, no records indicate that prosecutors moved forward with charges against Aldrich at the time, and neither police nor relatives tried to trigger Colorado's red flag law, which would have enabled Aldrich's weapons and ammunition to be seized, per AP.
The big picture: Colorado Gov. Polis said in a statement Sunday night that he's ordered flags on public buildings statewide to half-staff from sunrise Monday until sunset on Nov. 26 to "honor and remember the victims of the horrific shooting at Club Q." A vigil was held for the victims on Sunday.
Zoom in: Club Q in a Facebook post thanked the "quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack."
- The first police officers arrived on the scene within three minutes of being dispatched and apprehended the suspect two minutes later, police confirmed at a briefing Sunday.
- The shooter entered Club Q and "immediately began shooting at people inside," Colorado Springs Police Department Chief Adrian Vasquez said.
- Vasquez confirmed that the suspect used a long rifle during the shooting and that law enforcement recovered at least two firearms at the scene.
- "While the suspect was inside of the club, at least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect, and were able to stop the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others," Vasquez said.
What we're watching: Police had yet to release details about the victims. But one of the victims was Daniel Aston, 28, a transgender bartender who moved to Colorado two years ago and found a sense of community at club Q, his mother Sabrina Aston, told the Washington Post.
- It wasn't immediately clear whether the suspect was shot by police officers, per Lt. Pamela Castro of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
- Police were investigating whether anyone assisted in the attack.
- The FBI was on the scene as law enforcement officers investigated the motive for the shooting as well as whether it was a hate crime, Vasquez said.
What they're saying: "The club was a place of safety and belonging and community, and it was attacked. We don't know everything but we don't have to to see a pattern," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, one of the highest-ranking out LGBTQ officials in the U.S., told Axios Chicago's Monica Eng Monday.
- "I don't think you can separate the pattern of physical violence against LGBTQ Americans, from the pattern of leaders or would-be leaders singling out LGBTQ+ Americans for hate or fear. Those words have consequences."
- "And in this case ... for example, trans high schoolers. They're not a threat to anybody. But this kind of rhetoric is a clear and present threat to them."
President Biden said in a statement Sunday: "Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted that the shooting occurred on Transgender Day of Remembrance, adding: "The horrific shooting at Club Q is a call to mourn victims, thank heroic responders, and take more actions to disarm hate and end gun violence."
Zoom out: 49 people were killed in 2016 at Pulse Nightclub, an LGBTQ venue in Orlando, Florida. The shooter claimed affiliation with ISIS.
- Colorado Springs, a city known for its conservative leanings, is home to some Christian leaders who have openly denounced same-sex relationships. Still, the city of roughly 500,000 people has a small LGBTQ community, Axios' Esteban L. Hernandez writes.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
