A shooter opened fire early Sunday morning in a gay bar, killing five people and wounded 18. This is the latest mass shooting to strike the United States in a year in which anti-gay sentiment from radicals has increased.
The Colorado Springs Police Department received a complaint of a gunshot at Club Q at 11:57 p.m., according to Lt. Pamela Castro.
Castro stated that one suspect was hurt and receiving treatment. She stated that it was first unclear if he had been shot by police officers. She stated that the FBI was there and cooperating with the investigation.
The police department announced that its operations center will host a press conference at 8 a.m.
According to its website, Club Q is a gay and lesbian nightclub that hosts a “Drag Diva Drag Show” every Saturday.
The club announced on its Facebook page, “Club Q is heartbroken by the terrible attack on our community.” It stated that its condolences were with the victims and their families, and that “We appreciate the courageous customers whose swift actions stopped the gunman and terminated this hate assault.”
On November 20, 2022, a police officer sits in their truck while reacting to a mass shooting at the LGBT nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. KEVIN MOHATT / REUTERS
The motivation for the shooting was initially unknown, but it evoked echoes of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people were slain. And it occurred in a state with a history of infamous mass murders, including Columbine High School, a movie theater in a Denver suburb in 2012, and a supermarket in Boulder last year.
In June, 31 members of the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front were arrested and charged with conspiracy to riot during a Pride celebration in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Experts cautioned that anti-gay speech might be seen as a call to action by extreme organizations.
The previous month, a fundamentalist Idaho preacher advised his tiny Boise church that the government should murder gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, which was consistent with the preaching of a fundamentalist Texas pastor