Heroic clubbers overpowered a gunman who opened fire at a US nightclub killing five people and injuring more 25 more, authorities revealed on Monday.
One of the patrons at Club Q in Colorado Springs grabbed a handgun from the assailant and hit him with it, preventing further carnage. Another club-goer reportedly helped to pin him down until the police arrived late on Saturday night.
“It was quite something. It happened quite quickly. This individual was totally disabled by 12.02am That had a lot to do with the intervention of these patrons,” Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told the New York Times.
Police have identified the suspect as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, and said he used a “long rifle” during the attack. Multiple firearms were found at the scene.
Mr Suthers said the shooting “has all the appearances of being a hate crime.”
Speaking overnight, President Joe Biden said that while the motive for the shooting was not yet clear, “we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years”.
“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,” he said. “We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate.”
The shooting was reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse club massacre when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was fatally shot by police.
Club Q, a long-standing venue in a modest roadside shopping mall in Colorado’s second city, was described by many as a safe haven for the LGBTQ community.
Hundreds of people gathered at a local church on Sunday night for a vigil for the victims.
One of the victims was identified as Daniel Aston, 28, a transgender man and bartender at the club who also performed in shows as a dancer, according to a Colorado Public Radio interview with his mother.
“He was the happiest he had ever been,” Sabrina Aston said. “He was thriving and having fun and having friends. It’s just unbelievable. He had so much more life to give to us and to all to his friends and to himself.”
Another bartender, Derrick Rump, was reportedly killed in the attack.
One tribute posted on Facebook called him “one of the best and fastest bartenders around, and a good friend”. Another added: “I’m so happy for the light you brought into my life and without you the world will be so dim.”
