Shooting at Club Q, Colorado Springs

On the 19 of November, a horrifying attack on countless queer lives was perpetuated by the 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich at a local gay club (Club Q) in Colorado Springs. The suspect carried an "AR-style platform" long gun along with multiple magazines with ammunition, entered the bar's premises, and opened fire on the crowd injuring nearly two dozen people and killing five:  Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, Derrick Rump, and Ashley Green Paugh.  The first calls to the police were made around 11:57 am with the police arriving 3 minutes later, not before Richard Fierro (a veteran), and Thomas James intercepted Aldrich, took away their gun, and a transgender woman stomped on Aldrich's head with her high heel to knock them out. 

I would like to clear something out before I continue, Aldrich recently stated in their first public appearance that they go by they/them pronouns, so I will continue to refer to them as such. It is up to you if you want to do it, I can't force you to do anything. With that being said I'll continue naming a couple of issues I've seen people throw around regarding this case.

The first thing I've seen people debate on about this topic has been whether or not it was a bias-motivated attack, meaning whether or not this crime was committed with the intention of killing people because they are queer, or if they just wanted to kill people and the first place they thought of shooting up was a gay club.

The second is whether or not this event could have been avoided. People have found out that Aldrich has been previously arrested for a bomb threat at their mother's house; their mother reported that they were “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,”, the sheriff’s crisis negotiations unit tried to get them out of the house for hours, once they did they were immediately arrested. Upon searching the house no explosives were found.

Lastly, I would like to mention something that has been personally bugging me about this case: Aldrich stating that they go by they/them pronouns. I don't mean I am weirded out by them identifying as non-binary, it's more the timing of it all. How can you shoot up a queer club, kill 5 people and then come out and say that you yourself are a queer person? I've seen the kind of people they have been surrounded by their whole life, for example, their father (who is an extremely hateful man who when made aware of the crime Aldrich had committed was more worried about them not being queer rather than the fact that they had killed 5 people), and I could see where a queer person who is in a horrible condition in regards to their mental health could grow up with this immense hate toward themselves because they are the direct representation of what everyone around you hates and fears, but I'm still suspicious on whether or not this was a strategy by their part to not be horribly convicted or if it is actually true. 

At the end of the day, I would say the bigger issues here are homophobia and mental health. The LGBTQIA+ community has been constantly targeted by violent attacks like this one. Spaces created for the comfort of queer people are being destroyed by hatred and this has to stop, and the way I think mental health plays a role, in this case, is by the perpetrator, Aldrich, who had already threatened someone's life before this, that being their mother, the police came and left, no help was offered. This is the case of someone who is not mentally ok and needs help but isn't getting it. 

Finally, I would like to ask you, what you think about this case. Do you feel like this was bias-motivated, or just a mere coincidence? Do you think mental health played a bigger role in this? and lastly, Do you think that Aldrich stating that they go by they/them pronouns will affect his conviction in any way?

More information about the shooting:

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/21/1138131985/what-we-know-colorado-springs-lgbtq-club-shooting 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/20/us/colorado-springs-shooting-gay-nightclub 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/us/colorado-springs-club-q-shooting-monday

Aldrich's father's statement:

https://www.newsweek.com/anderson-lee-aldrichs-dad-was-scared-son-was-gay-after-club-q-shooting-1761960   

May Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance, Derrick Rump, and Ashley Green Paugh rest in peace.     

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  • Great topic choice and super job Marcela!!

  • In my opinion, I believe that their poor mental health was one of the reasons, if not the biggest, why they did this. I feel this way because he was showing signs of violence with the bomb threats with his mother. Whether he was bias-motivated or not, I don't know.

  • I do not understand how a person can go by they/them and then turn around to kill people in a gay club. I hope that these people can be remembered for and that the shooter will be getting help wherever they go. Aldrich killed people and that is the fact. They may have been mentally ill or just very angry. We will never know.

    • I honestly hope they do get whatever help they need regardless of where they sent them. However, I'm not sure he will, because I often hear how people in prison don't get that type of help.

  • I think mental health is a huge factor in shootings. The person may have strong feelings for/at something. But not enough to do this. People need to get the help they need and I think that schools should catch on to this type of stuff to. If a student is struggling mentally, the school should notice this and give the student some help. Because if they don't get help, this is what can happen. 

  • I believe that it really could be a coincidence that Aldrich came out as non-binary soon after this shooting had happened, but I also believe that their father could’ve been a huge influence on this happening. In your post, you mentioned that their father had been more worried about his son being gay than about the people that had died it could’ve been a type of mental abuse from their dad about him not wanting his child to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community after they came out as non-binary prior to this shooting. That being said yes I do believe that this could very much be caused by mental health issues. Finally, it is very possible that their coming out as non-binary could affect their conviction in some way.

    • You've made a good point, Aldrich could have come out until he was in custody because he felt more comfortable. He knows his father would not agree with his identity, and seeing him speak in such a hateful way about queer people I just couldn't guess what the father would have done if he had come out before. 

  • i think he had some type of mental health issue or they were abused or mentally abused and that's what drove him to do it most likely. I think its ok to have your opinions on the LGBTQ but you don't have to  go as far to shoot up a club. they could have delt with it in a healthy way instead of shooting up the club.

  • I thin that it was mental health related. I think that it was because a lot of shootings are due to mental health issues. I font this was a bias toward the LGBT community but yeah it was mental health

  • I think some shootings take alot of place in a persons mental health. It can often make a person go very crazy. I think it was pretty targeted towards this club as many people do not agree with the LGBTQ. 

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