By Peter Sblendorio
Source New York Daily News
One of the people who confronted the shooter at a Colorado gay nightclub over the weekend struck the gunman with his own weapon, officials said Monday.
Authorities believe the rampage at Club Q that left five people dead could have been worse if a patron hadn’t gotten hold of the suspect’s gun and pinned him down after hitting him with it, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said.
“Had that individual not intervened this could have been exponentially more tragic,” Suthers said.
The new details emerged a day after Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said “at least two heroic people” fought off the shooter before police arrived. Neither patron has been identified.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was named as the suspect in the massacre that officials say also left at least 25 people wounded. Police say the shooter used a “long rifle” and that at least two guns were found at the scene.
Police were called to the Colorado Springs bar Saturday just before midnight and apprehended the gunman at 12:02 p.m. on Sunday, Vasquez said. Aldrich, who is in custody, was also injured amid the chaos, according to officials.
It’s unclear how many of the victims were wounded by gunshots. Seven of the wounded victims are in critical condition.
Officials are hopeful the hospitalized victims will each recover, Suthers said.
Investigators are working to determine a motive for the shooting, including whether it was a hate crime. The attack occurred on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors trans people killed through discriminatory hate or violence.
“It has all the trappings of a hate crime, but we need to look at social media, we need to look at all other kinds of information ... before we make any definitive conclusions about a motive,” Suthers said during another interview Monday on NBC’s “Today” show.
Aldrich was previously arrested last year after allegedly threatening his mother with weapons including a homemade bomb. He was hit with felony kidnapping and menacing, but there are no records indicating officials attempted to take his weapons through the state’s “red flag” law or move forward with the charges.
Club Q had planned to host a brunch drag show Sunday before the shooting occurred.
“I can’t stop hearing the shots,” a drag performer who uses the name Del Lusional tweeted hours after the attack.
“This doesn’t feel real,” the 20-year-old wrote. “Like at all. Walking through the bar that I call my home and seeing it … like that … I went from being so proud of myself for what I accomplished tonight, to … this. I hate this so much.”
Another person said he hid in a dressing room after the violence unfolded.
“I could have lost my life — over what? What was the purpose?” said Joshua Thurman, 34,.
“We were just enjoying ourselves. We weren’t out harming anyone. We were in our space, our community, our home, enjoying ourselves like everybody else does.”
With News Wire Services
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