Nightclub Shooting At Colorado Nightclub Leaves 5 Dead, 18 Wounded

[Webster]

Police: 5 dead, 18 hurt in Colorado gay nightclub shooting

"We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack," Club Q wrote on Facebook.

www.wcnc.com

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — An attacker opened fire in a Colorado gay nightclub late Saturday, killing five people and wounding 18 before apparently being subdued by patrons, officials said.

Authorities received a report of a shooting at Club Q at 11:57 p.m. and responded within minutes, said Lt. Pamela Castro of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The violence is the sixth mass killing this month and comes in a year when the nation was shaken by the deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Castro had few details beyond the number of dead and wounded. She said the suspect was injured but didn’t know how and that the FBI was on the scene and assisting.

The police department planned a news conference for 8 a.m. (10 a.m. EST) on the investigation.

The latest incident occurred as anti-gay rhetoric has intensified by extremists. In a statement, Club Q termed the shooting a hate attack. “Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the club posted on its Facebook page. It said its prayers were with victims and families, adding: “We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”

Club Q is a gay and lesbian nightclub that features a “Drag Diva Drag Show” on Saturdays, according to its website.

In addition to the drag show, Club Q's Facebook page said planned entertainment included a “punk and alternative show” preceding a birthday dance party, with a Sunday “all ages brunch.”

Colorado Springs is a city of about 480,000 located about 70 miles south of Denver that is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, as well as Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical Christian ministry. In November 2015, three people were killed and eight wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the city when authorities say a man opened fire because he wanted to wage “war” on the clinic because it performed abortions.

The motive behind Saturday's shooting was not immediately known, but it brought back memories of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. And it occurred in a state that has experienced several notorious mass killings, including at Columbine High School in 1999, a movie theater in suburban Denver in 2012 and at a Boulder supermarket last year.

 

[Webster]

'We are not monsters. We are not freaks. We bleed and we love': LGBTQ club target of deadly shooting

Deep into the years-long Republican-launched attack on the LGBTQ community, an LGBTQ�nightclub in Colorado Springs was the target of a shooting�on Saturday night that killed�at least five people and ...

www.dailykos.com

Deep into the years-long Republican-launched attack on the LGBTQ community, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs was the target of a shooting on Saturday night that killed at least five people and injured 18. Police have described the shooting at Club Q as a "hate attack."

“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the club penned in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Our prays and thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends. We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”

Colorado Springs Police Lt. Pamela Castro said at a media briefing early Sunday that the suspect is in custody and being treated at a local hospital for injuries. Dispatchers received the call about the shooting minutes before midnight Sunday, which happens to be Transgender Day of Remembrance. The observance was started in 1999 to memorialize those murdered as a result of transphobia. Social media users weren’t willing to separate the shooting from the LGBTQ hate that Republicans and one billionaire, in particular, continue to inspire on social media and in policy decisions.

 

[PGen98]

This is awful. Truly awful. Sadly, this feels like the only the beginning. Ignorance can't win.

 

[Webster]

This is awful. Truly awful. Sadly, this feels like the only the beginning. Ignorance can't win.

And given the city, I almost guarantee those sick over at FotF are cheering the shooter....

 

[Webster]

George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽 (@[email protected])

Today is #TransDayofRemembrance when we honor and remember trans lives taken by violence. How horrifying that a deadly attack upon the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs should occur right before this solemn day. Hate isn’t born in us. It is taught. It must end. This starts with our political...

mstdn.party

God :verified: (@[email protected])

God makes LGBTQ people and God loves them just as they are. They deserve the same rights as everyone else. Anyone who says otherwise is a bigot and you can tell them I said that. #GodLovesGays

mstdn.party

 

[PGen98]

And given the city, I almost guarantee those sick over at FotF are cheering the shooter....

Oh I'm sure so, so many people are cheering him on.

George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽 (@[email protected])

Today is #TransDayofRemembrance when we honor and remember trans lives taken by violence. How horrifying that a deadly attack upon the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs should occur right before this solemn day. Hate isn’t born in us. It is taught. It must end. This starts with our political...

mstdn.party

God :verified: (@[email protected])

God makes LGBTQ people and God loves them just as they are. They deserve the same rights as everyone else. Anyone who says otherwise is a bigot and you can tell them I said that. #GodLovesGays

mstdn.party

Yep, can't even have Trans Day of Remembrance, so, so horrific.

 

[Nebulous]

RIP to the victims.