Two “brave” people inside the club managed to stop the shooter who opened fire inside an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado. The incident killed at least five people, authorities said at a press conference on Sunday.
They identify the attacker as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich and claimed that he had fired a rifle inside the club. The revelers were allegedly commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance. And it honors Tran’s people who have been the victims of violent attacks.
In the event just before midnight, 18 individuals were hurt, according to police. They also stated that an indeterminate number of the injured were still in severe condition.
The alleged shooter is being held without bond in a hospital after being overpowered by clubbers. He will appear in court for the first time soon, according to El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen.
The shooter, Aldrich is anticipated to face first-degree murder charges. And “if the evidence supports bias-motivated offenses, we will charge that as well,” Allen added. Official charges have not yet been brought against Aldrich.
Mayor praises the “two heroes”
Mayor of Colorado Springs John Suthers commended “two heroes” who assisted in apprehending the shooter after he barged into the club and started shooting.
According to The New York Times, the mayor claimed to have spoken with one of the guys, Richard Fierro, a US Army veteran with 15 years of service.
Suthers added, “I have never met a person who has performed such heroic deeds and was so humble about it.” I was attempting to protect my family,” he merely told me.
Since a mass shooting in 2016 at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida that left 49 people dead, the attack was the worst on the LGBTQ community in the United States.
Comments of LGBTQ advocacy groups on the incident
An LGBTQ advocacy group, express their feeling says; GLAAD. Also emphasized that the incident occurred as antagonism toward the LGBTQ community in the United States. Moreover they says, it has increased and on the eve of the Transgender Day which remembers victims of transphobic violence.
US President Joe Biden denounced the assault in a statement, along with violence against the LGBTQ community in general and transgender women of color in particular.
“The injustices that fuel violence against LGBTQI+ persons must be eliminated. Hate must not be tolerated by us “said he.