INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A gunman opened fire inside an LGBTQ nightspot in Colorado Springs late on Saturday, killing at least five people and injuring 25 others
before being stopped by &heroic& clubgoers, police said.Authorities on Sunday said they were investigating whether the attack was motivated
by hate, Reuters reported.Police identified the suspect as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, and said he used a &long rifle.& He was taken into
police custody shortly after the shooting began and was being treated for injuries, according to officials.The shooting was reminiscent of
the 2016 Pulse club massacre, when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay nightclub of that name in Orlando, Florida, before he was fatally
shot by police, read the report.It unfolded as LGBTQ communities and allies around the world prepared to mark the Transgender Day of
Remembrance on Sunday, an annual observance to honor victims of transphobic violence.Police said the initial phone call about the shooting
came in just before midnight, and that the suspect was apprehended within minutes thanks to the quick action of law enforcement and the
bravery of at least two patrons who intervened, Reuters reported.The shooter burst in with a rifle, a military-style flak jacket and what
appeared to be six magazines of ammunition, the New York Times reported, citing the club owners, who said they did not know the man.Multiple
firearms were found at the venue, including the rifle, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez told a news conference on
Sunday.According to Reuters one patron, Joshua Thurman, choked up as he told reporters that he was dancing in the club when he first heard
He sought refuge in a dressing room and locked himself inside with others, praying for his life and thinking about loved ones.&We heard
everything,& Thurman said
&We heard more shots fired
We heard the assailant being beat up by someone that I assumed that tackled him
We heard the police come in
We heard them yelling at him
We heard them saying, ‘Take certain people because they&re critical.'&Several of the injured were in critical condition and being treated
at local hospitals, authorities said.Club Q called the incident a &hate attack& in a statement on Facebook and thanked the &heroic
customers& for subduing the gunman.In a statement condemning the violence, President Joe Biden said Americans must not tolerate hate.&Places
that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence,& Biden
said.Colorado has a grim history of mass violence, including the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, a 2012 rampage inside a movie
theater in a Denver suburb and a supermarket attack that killed 10 people last year, read the report.The post Gunman kills 5 in Colorado
LGBTQ nightclub first appeared on Ariana News.
