Police have identified Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, as the suspect in an overnight shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs that killed five people and wounded 18, Colorado Springs Police Department Chief Adrian Vasquez said at a press briefing Sunday.

Driving the news: "We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack," Club Q posted on Facebook after the attack.


  • Club Q added that it was "devastated by the senseless attack on our community."
  • The club was scheduled to host a drag brunch on Sunday for the 2022 Transgender Day of Remembrance.


Details: A single suspect was wounded and is in custody, police said.


  • It's not yet clear whether the suspect was shot by police officers, according to Lt. Pamela Castro of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
  • The first police officers arrived on the scene within three minutes of being dispatched and apprehended the suspect two minutes later, police confirmed at a press briefing on Sunday.
  • Aldrich entered Club Q and “immediately began shooting at people inside,” Vasquez said.
  • “While the suspect was inside of the club, at least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect, and were able to stop the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others.”
  • Vasquez confirmed that Aldrich used a long rifle during the shooting and that law enforcement recovered at least two firearms at the scene.
  • Police have not yet released any information about the victims.
  • Police are also investigating whether any other people assisted the suspect.
  • FBI is on the scene. Law enforcement officers are investigating the motive for the shooting as well as whether it was a hate crime, Vasquez said.


What they're saying: "This is horrific, sickening, and devastating. My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured, and traumatized in this terrible shooting," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), said Sunday in a statement posted on Twitter.


  • "We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman, likely saving lives in the process, and for the first responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting," he added.
  • "Club Q is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens. Every citizen has the right to feel safe and secure in our city, to go about our beautiful city without fear of being harmed or treated poorly. I'm so terribly saddened and heartbroken," Vasquez said.
  • "We are a strong community that has shown resilience in the face of hate and violence in the past and we will do so again. As a community, we will provide for the victims and witnesses of this horrific event, and law enforcement will pursue this case with the zealousness that it deserves," Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said at the press briefing.


President Biden also reacted to the shooting via a statement Sunday, saying:


  • "Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate."
  • "Jill and I are praying for the families of the five people killed in Colorado Springs last night, and for those injured in this senseless attack," Biden added.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to the shooting on Twitter, highlighting that it had occurred on Transgender Day of Remembrance.


  • "The horrific shooting at Club Q is a call to mourn victims, thank heroic responders, and take more actions to disarm hate and end gun violence," Pelosi wrote.


Zoom out: 49 people were killed in 2016 at Pulse Nightclub, an LGBTQ venue in Orlando, Florida. The shooter claimed affiliation with ISIS.