Police on Wednesday released the booking photos of Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is accused of fatally shooting five people and wounding numerous others in a Colorado Springs LGTBQ+ nightclub over the weekend.
The photos show Aldrich, who identifies as nonbinary, with numerous apparent wounds to the face and neck.
According to clubgoers, multiple patrons at Club Q tackled the 22-year-old and managed to wrestle away the AR-style rifle they were carrying.
Richard Fierro, a former US Army major told CNN he tackled the alleged shooter to the ground and beat them unconscious,
Mr Fierro said he recognised that the shooter was wearing a flak vest which has a handle on it and ran across the room, grabbed it, and pulled them to the floor.
Another person helped Mr Fierro bring Aldrich to the ground and he told them to push the AR-15 rifle away.
“I then proceeded to take his other weapon, a pistol, and just started hitting him wherever I could, but the armour was in the way,” said Mr Fierro. “I found a crease between his armour and his head and I just started wailing away with his gun.”
“I told the kid in front of me ‘kick him, keep kicking him’,” he told Berman, adding that he shouted at others to help and call 911.
Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green have been identified as the five victims of the Club Q shooting
Additionally, 19 people were injured in the massacre on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Aldrich made their first appearance in court, where they face preliminary charges of murder and bias-motivated crime.
The previous day, Aldrich was released to the hospital and moved to county jail.
