Several patrons have been credited with saving countless lives during a mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The shooting, which happened Saturday night at Club Q, claimed the lives of five people and injured dozens more. But the quick thinking of clubgoers saved many more lives, authorities say.
At least one patron confronted the suspect and grabbed his handgun before hitting him with it and pinning him down until police arrived minutes later, reports The Associated Press.
Winston Yellen places his head on his knees as he pays his respects at a makeshift memorial near Club Q on Nov. 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Helen H. Richardson / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images
Although no motive for the attack has been shared, Suthers told the New York Times the shooting “has all the appearances of being a hate crime.”
Among those injured, several were still in critical condition, hospital officials told the press on Sunday.
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Mass shooting at gay nightclub in Colorado leaves at least 5 dead, 18 hurt: Police
The shooting was reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse club massacre when a gunman killed 49 people at the gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., before he was fatally shot by police.
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Club Q, a long-standing venue in a modest strip mall, was described by many as a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
One of the victims was identified as Daniel Aston, 28, a transgender man and bartender at the club who also performed in shows as a dancer, according to a Colorado Public Radio interview with his mother, Sabrina Aston.
“He was the happiest he had ever been,” Sabrina Aston said. “He was thriving and having fun and having friends. It’s just unbelievable. He had so much more life to give to us and to all his friends and to himself.”
