just before midnight Saturday night, a gunman broke into Club Q, a favorite LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and instantly began shooting at the crowd, killing five people, injuring 25 According to police.
The suspect shooter has been identified as 22 year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said Sunday.
A long rifle was utilized during the shooting, according to the chief of police. Two guns were found from the shooting site.
Investigators are still trying to establish the motive behind the attack, Vasquez said, though they are looking into whether the incident was an act of violence against people of different races.
What do we know about the gunman who is suspected of being the culprit.
The patrons of the club stopped the rout
Police received numerous 911 calls regarding the shooting, which began about 11:56 p.m. According to police. Police were called at 11:57 p.m. and the officer was in Club Q at midnight. The suspect was taken into custody around 12:02 a.m. According to police, the suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m.
The shooting was brief because the people in the bar were able subdue the suspect, according to police.
“At least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect and were able to stop the suspect,” Vasquez declared. “We owe them a great debt of thanks.”
The suspect was detained by police and is being treated in an inpatient hospital on Sundayafternoon, according to police and added that officers did no shoot towards the person in question.
Suspect was previously detained in connection with the threat to bomb
Police announced on Sunday that they were conducting an investigation into the history of the suspect however they have not agreed to divulge information about the investigation.
Aldrich was detained in June 2021, in connection to a bomb threat which resulted in a standoff at the home of his mother according to a news announcement from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time, as well as the landlord who his mother was previously. Colorado Springs is in El Paso County.
Two law enforcement sources have confirmed that the suspect in the shooting on Saturday as well as the bomb threat to be the same individual based upon his surname and birth date.
The video that was obtained from CNN shows that Aldrich was able to surrender to police last year following a alleged bomb threat. The footage captured by the Ring camera on the door that is owned by the owner of the house shows Aldrich walking out of the home with hands raised and feet barefoot and walking towards deputy sheriffs.
Sheriff’s deputies were notified of a complaint by the man’s mom that they were “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to the release. The suspect was contacted by deputies, and the suspect “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the release stated, prompting the deputies to remove homes in the area.
After a few hours following the initial police report at the time, the sheriff’s crisis negotiations unit was able get Aldrich to leave the property and arrested him as he left through the doorway. Police did not locate any explosives in the house.
Leslie Bowman, who owns the house where his mother resided, gave CNN the video. Bowman explained that the mother of Aldrich was a tenant in the house for just more than a year. Aldrich would visit his mom there.
It’s not yet certain what the case regarding the bomb threat was resolved, however The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that the district attorney’s office stated that no formal charges were filed during the investigation. The office of the district attorney declined to respond to comment.
Aldrich also contacted the Gazette to try and obtain an earlier article about 2021’s incident removed from the site according to the newspaper. “There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” Aldrich stated in a recorded message, as reported by the Gazette.
