In the wake of the mass shooting Saturday night at the gay nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado that killed five people and injured over two dozen more, politicians across South Florida are expressing their sorrow.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis issued a statement saying the shooting awakened "painful memories" for those in the LGBTQ community of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people in June 2016.
"Club Q and Pulse were supposed to be safe places where people could come together to socialize and have fun, and instead, they now stand as gruesome reminders of our nation’s failure to address gun violence," Trantalis said. "Violence against the LGBT community cannot be tolerated, and sensible gun regulations are needed in order to ensure everyone’s safety — in church, in school, at work, at a movie theater and everywhere else.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted her condolences while also criticizing gun legislation in the wake of the shooting.
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The suspect used an AR-15-style semiautomatic weapon in the shooting, a law enforcement official said. A handgun and additional ammunition magazines also were recovered, according to the official, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
On its Facebook page, the club called it a “hate attack.” Investigators were still determining a motive and whether to prosecute it as a hate crime, said El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen. Charges against the suspect “will likely include first-degree murder,” he said.
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The attack ended when someone grabbed a handgun from the gunman and hit him with it, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told The New York Times. The person who hit the gunman had him pinned down when police arrived.
Suthers said the club had operated for 21 years and had not reported any threats before Saturday’s attack.
Authorities were called to Club Q at 11:57 p.m. Saturday with a report of a shooting, and the first officer arrived at midnight.
The gunman was confronted by “at least two heroic people” who fought and subdued the suspect, said Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.
“We owe them a great debt of thanks,” he added. Detectives also were examining whether anyone had helped the gunman before the attack, Vasquez said.
Police did not give further details on the other guns found at the scene.
Of the 25 injured, at least seven were in critical condition, authorities said. Some were hurt trying to flee, and it was unclear if all of the victims were shot, a police spokesperson said.
