Mass Shooting at Colorado LGBTQ Nightclub Leaves Five Dead

As reported by Reuters, police responded to a call about a shooting at Club Q a few minutes before midnight on Saturday night. After arriving and identifying a suspect, police were able to apprehend them.

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Colorado Springs police Lieutenant Pamela Castro told a news conference that the individual is currently in custody and receiving treatment for injuries. She did not reveal a motive or the type of firearm that was used, but police have described the event as a "hate attack." On Sunday morning, the FBI tweeted that it is assisting local law enforcement with the investigation.

In online reviews, Club Q has been described as an "inclusive" venue, which hosted drag shows, trivia nights, and other forms of entertainment. In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, the venue wrote, "Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community. Our prays and thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends. We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack."

The Club Q mass shooting, which fell on Trans Day of Remembrance (November 20), is not the first in recent years to specifically target LGBTQ individuals in nightclubs. It has drawn immediate comparison to the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 people.

A nationally-recognized evangelical hub that has seen several mass shootings since the mid-2010s, Colorado Springs is located around 70 miles south of Denver and its major suburb Aurora — where a deadly movie theater massacre killed 12 in 2012. Other tragic shootings elsewhere in Colorado include the horrific Columbine school shooting in 1999.

Photo via Getty Images / Carsten Rehder / picture alliance