Gabriella Ferlita
A mugshot of the Colorado nightclub shooting suspect has been released to the public, showing them with a beaten and bruised face following the tragic incident.
On Wednesday, local police released the police file photos of Anderson Lee Aldrich, who has been accused of fatally shooting five people and injuring many others at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs this weekend.
The pictures from Colorado Springs Police depict Aldrich, who identifies as a non-binary person, with visible wounds to their face and neck.
According to those present during the terrifying ordeal at Club Q, multiple punters at the club - located on Academy Boulevard - took down the 22-year-old suspect and intercepted the AR-style rifle from them.
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Richard Fierro, who was previously a US Army major, claimed to CNN that he was one of the club-goers who managed to wrestle the alleged shooter to the ground and beat them up until they were unconscious.
Fierro claimed that he noticed that the shooter was dressed in a bulletproof vest which had a handle on it, so when he ran across the room he was able to grab the handle and it to pull the suspect to the ground.
A different bystander helped Fierro tackle Aldrich to the floor and instructed others to move the AR-15 rifle out of the suspect’s reach.
“I then proceeded to take his other weapon, a pistol, and just started hitting him wherever I could, but the armour was in the way," he told news anchor John Berman, explaining how he shouted at others to help and call 911.
“I found a crease between his armour and his head and I just started wailing away with his gun. I told the kid in front of me ‘kick him, keep kicking him'."
On Tuesday, Aldrich was released to hospital for their injuries and moved to a county jail.
And yesterday (23 November), Aldrich appeared for the first time in court for the crime, where they are facing preliminary charges of murder and bias-motivated crime.
Five victims have been identified in the tragic Club Q shooting, including Derrick Rump, a 38-year-old bartender who was working at the time, Daniel Aston, 28, a bar supervisor at the club, Ashley Paugh, a 35-year-old foster worker, Kelly Loving, a 40-year-old trans woman and Raymond Green Vance, a 22-year-old FedEx distribution centre staff member and a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
A further 19 victims were left injured as a result of the massacre on Saturday 19 November.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]