US: Five killed, 18 injured in nightclub shooting in Colorado

“Heroic” clubgoers fought and stopped a gunman shortly after he opened fire inside a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing at least five people and injuring 18 others, police said on Sunday.

Police identified the suspect as Anderson Lee Aldrich, a 22-year-old man, who shot at patrons with a long rifle, a powerful weapon that can inflict devastating wounds.

The suspect was taken into police custody shortly after the shooting broke out and was being treated for injuries, according to officials.

Club Q, which describes itself as an adult-oriented gay and lesbian nightclub, called Saturday night’s events a “hate attack” in a statement on its Facebook page. Authorities said they were investigating whether the attack was motivated by hate.

Two firearms were found at the scene at Club Q, Colorado Springs Police Department Chief Adrian Vasquez said at a press conference on Sunday morning.

“Club Q is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens,” he said. “I’m so terribly saddened and heartbroken.”

Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who in 2018 became the first openly gay man in the country to be elected governor, commended the “brave individuals who blocked the gunman” in a statement released on Twitter in which he called the shooting “horrific, sickening, and devastating.”

Several of the injured were in critical condition and being treated at local hospitals, authorities said.

Police said the initial phone call came just before midnight about the shooting, and that the suspect was apprehended within minutes.

“The attack on Club Q, which fell on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, is despicable” further shattering the sense of safety of LGBTQ Americans across the country,” the Democratic Speaker of the US House Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.