Two bartenders have been identified among the many five people killed within the mass shooting at a Colorado gay club — where a witness said an evening of dancing was punctured by shots, screaming, broken glass and blood all over the place.
Daniel Davis Aston, 28, was killed within the gunfire at Club Q in Colorado Springs, his mom told ABC News.
“He was our baby and he was our youngest,” Sabrina Aston told the outlet.
Fellow bartender Derrick Rump was also killed within the attack, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Co-workers described Rump to the local newspaper as funny and bubbly, with one saying he all the time “kept his smile.”
Aston had accomplished his transition to male in June and was a drag performer, in addition to a bartender, based on friends and social media posts.
“He was all the time, ‘Do you wish anything?’” Leia-Jhene Seals, a drag performer who took to the stage on the club Saturday night, told the Gazette.
Law enforcement authorities said earlier Friday that suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, allegedly entered the club just before midnight and immediately began opening fire. The attack also left 25 people injured.
Brave patrons confronted the gunman and were capable of stop him from causing further bloodshed, police said. Aldrich was in protective custody at an area hospital.
Witness Joshua Thurman described the terrifying scene, telling reporters on Sunday he didn’t realize at first that somebody was shooting.
“I believed it was the music, so I kept dancing. Then I heard one other set of shots after which me and a customer ran to the dressing room, got on the bottom and locked the doors, and called the police immediately,” the 34-year-old said.
Truman recalled hearing screams from patrons while Aldrich allegedly fired into the gang.
He said he was pondering of “my mom, my friends, my family members” as he hoped he would make it out alive.
“There have been bodies on the bottom,” he told reporters, “blood, broken glass, broken cups and outdoors it was worse.”
He added: “That is the one LGBTQIA+ place in your entire city of Colorado Springs. What are we imagined to do? Where are we imagined to go? How are we imagined to feel secure in the environment when it just got shot up?”
Investigators are probing the motive, and said they will likely be weighing hate crime charges.
“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the venue wrote on Facebook. “Our prays and thoughts are with all of the victims and their families and friends. We thank the fast reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
Two bartenders have been identified among the many five people killed within the mass shooting at a Colorado gay club — where a witness said an evening of dancing was punctured by shots, screaming, broken glass and blood all over the place.
Daniel Davis Aston, 28, was killed within the gunfire at Club Q in Colorado Springs, his mom told ABC News.
“He was our baby and he was our youngest,” Sabrina Aston told the outlet.
Fellow bartender Derrick Rump was also killed within the attack, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Co-workers described Rump to the local newspaper as funny and bubbly, with one saying he all the time “kept his smile.”
Aston had accomplished his transition to male in June and was a drag performer, in addition to a bartender, based on friends and social media posts.
“He was all the time, ‘Do you wish anything?’” Leia-Jhene Seals, a drag performer who took to the stage on the club Saturday night, told the Gazette.
Law enforcement authorities said earlier Friday that suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, allegedly entered the club just before midnight and immediately began opening fire. The attack also left 25 people injured.
Brave patrons confronted the gunman and were capable of stop him from causing further bloodshed, police said. Aldrich was in protective custody at an area hospital.
Witness Joshua Thurman described the terrifying scene, telling reporters on Sunday he didn’t realize at first that somebody was shooting.
“I believed it was the music, so I kept dancing. Then I heard one other set of shots after which me and a customer ran to the dressing room, got on the bottom and locked the doors, and called the police immediately,” the 34-year-old said.
Truman recalled hearing screams from patrons while Aldrich allegedly fired into the gang.
He said he was pondering of “my mom, my friends, my family members” as he hoped he would make it out alive.
“There have been bodies on the bottom,” he told reporters, “blood, broken glass, broken cups and outdoors it was worse.”
He added: “That is the one LGBTQIA+ place in your entire city of Colorado Springs. What are we imagined to do? Where are we imagined to go? How are we imagined to feel secure in the environment when it just got shot up?”
Investigators are probing the motive, and said they will likely be weighing hate crime charges.
“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the venue wrote on Facebook. “Our prays and thoughts are with all of the victims and their families and friends. We thank the fast reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
