another mass shooting another Candlelight vigil another makeshift Memorial gun violence tearing
at the soul of America again this time in Colorado Springs where five people were
murdered over the weekend in an lgbtq nightclub one Patron describing Club Q as the only Safe
Haven in the city for the lgbtq community a 22 year old suspect is now in custody the club's
owners say that he was heavily armed and wearing a military-style flak jacket when
he entered the building with quote tremendous Firepower and that he was taken down by two
customers CNN's Rosa Flores is live in Colorado Springs for CNN this morning
Rosa good morning to you what do we know about the survivors and the investigation
well Don good morning you know you were talking just moments ago about the shooter here's what
we know about him he's been identified by police and this is the alleged shooter as
22 year old Anderson Lee Eldridge according to police he was subdued by one or two individuals
who were inside Club Q shortly thereafter he was taken into custody and he was transported
to the hospital no charges have been filed at this point in time as for his background
It is believed that he is the same individual who was arrested after a bomb threat in 2021.
Colorado Springs grieving after police say a gunman stormed one of the only lgbtq clubs in
the community the motive of the crime is part of the investigation and whether this was a
hate crime is part of that investigation the club writing in a statement Club Q is in shock and in
deep morning we condemn the horrific violence that shattered an evening of celebration for
all in the lgbtq community of Colorado Springs and our allies the shooting lasted only minutes
with police detaining the suspect shortly after the first 9-1-1 call police have identified the
suspected shooter as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Eldridge police say he entered the club just
before midnight on Saturday and began shooting immediately with a long rifle two weapons were
found at the scene at least one possibly two very heroic individuals who subdued
this guy appears to have taken his handgun he had a handgun with him and used it to disable him but
for that uh as tragic as this incident is it's a horrible crime it could have been much much worse
and now more details are emerging about the suspected shooter including a 2021 arrest for
felony menacing and first degree kidnapping according to a news release at the time
after his mother says he threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons this is an act
of evil a horrific act a Colorado is strong we're resilient but this is really a Time of
Need for so many people that were directly affected by this the shooting has left the
lgbtq community here devastated for a lot of people like myself we don't have families so
LGBT people really need somewhere that is a safe space and Club Q gave that to us My Hope Is that
we we do we come out strong from this um you know we we show the communities that don't
want LGBT people to be out and about we show them that we are here we are we aren't going
and hiding in a hole we are staying strong and we are continuing to fight forward we don't give up
now authorities here have not released the names of the victims but the parents of one
of the victims telling the Denver Post that their son died take a look at his picture
this is Daniel Aston again this is his parents telling the Denver Post that he died that he
was a bartender at Club Q that he had moved to this area to be closer to his parents now as for
the motive Dawn investigators are not sharing what they do know but the district attorney did
say yesterday during a press conference that this is being investigated through the lens
of a hate crime the D.A also saying that he's working with the U.S attorney's office that the
FBI is investigating the point here being that whether it's state charges or federal charges
it's about finding Justice for the victims just awesome Rosa Flores thank you very much for that