Unfortunately, mass shootings have become part of the American news cycle. This past Saturday, November 19, another occurred, this time in Colorado Springs (CO) at an LGBTQI+ nightclub.
A gunman, identified by police as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, entered the venue and killed 5 people and injured another 25.
The attack comes six years after the deadliest shooting targeting the LGBTQI+ community in modern U.S. history, when a man killed 49 people and injured another 53 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez stated that the shooter began firing as soon as he entered the nightclub. Two individuals subdued the shooter. One of them wrested the gun from him and struck him in the head with his own weapon to incapacitate him. The police chief described the act as heroic.
The quick reaction of the clubgoers themselves helped to end the attack and prevented more people from being killed or injured. Police arrived shortly afterward and arrested the shooter.
The attack has been classified as a hate crime.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, has been charged with five counts of murder and charges of a hate-motivated crime causing bodily injury.
The Gun Violence Archive has recorded at least 601 mass shootings so far this year. Of these shootings, 20 involved five or more deaths, including the shooting this Saturday in Colorado Springs.