COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Tiara Latrice Kelley was scheduled to perform at a brunch honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday at Club Q in Colorado Springs, so she just barely missed the shootings that claimed five lives and left 25 other people injured.
Kelley did perform Friday night at the club and feels "sick" about the shootings Saturday night. She said she was up all night.
Her friend, Hysteria, who was deejaying and in the building during the shooting, told her that the shooter came into the bar around 11:57 p.m. Saturday and opened fire.
"She said he walked in and didn’t say anything. He just started shooting," Kelley said. "She has heard that one of the bartenders was killed."
"Every time I close my eyes I keep thinking about what I imagine it must have looked like," said Kelley. "It’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy."
A drag artist who identifies as "Del Lusional" on Twitter posted these remarks:
"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.
"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."
Joshua Thurman, 34, was at the nightclub Saturday night celebrating his birthday. He heard three to four shots while he was dancing and initially thought it was the music. When he heard more shots, Thurman said he ran to a nearby dressing room where he and other club patrons hid.
Thurman said the club was an LGBTQ space "and now we don't even have that anymore."
"What are we to do? How do we move on from this?" Thurman asked. "We're shattered. We're broken. ..."
Thurman said he wants the shooter brought to justice. "It won't bring anyone back, but the person who did this needs to answer for his crime," Thurman said.
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