Crime And Public Safety
When the shooting ended at the Q Club on Saturday night, James Slough was lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his arm.
The bone was broken. His sister lay unconscious beside him. His friend was injured in the leg. Slav sat down where he fell and listened to techno club dance music.
When the attack ended, the club members started helping each other. Full visitors examined the victims. People are called tourists, click. A stranger approaches Slava.
"He said. "Well, I guess it's in your hands, you'll be fine, you'll live. We are here for you. "He kissed my forehead," he said in a bedside interview at Centura Hospital Penrose in Colorado Springs. "It meant a lot to me. It was the first time I cried."
Slough, 34, sister Charlene Slough, 35, and friend Giancarlos Del Valle, 34, were shot and killed Saturday night when a gunman walked into an LGBT club and opened fire. Five people died and 18 were injured.
She and other survivors spoke about Tuesday's attack, recalling violence, pain and fear, as well as moments of compassion and love.
"For every bad person in the world, there are a billion good people. Billions," says James Slough. "I want my message to be love. I want understanding, compassion and equality... Yes, I got a bullet, but the bullet won't be as strong as this love."
Broken night
Ed Sanders, 63, was at Club Q on opening night 20 years ago and was there Saturday night, arriving around midnight to add something to an already fun night.
"I'm proud to hit the young guys," he said in an interview from the U.S. Memorial Hospital Center in Colorado Springs. "I tried to close the bar while I was there."
On Saturday, he handed the bartender his credit card and ordered a rum and coke when he was shot in the back. As he said, he turned and saw the shooter.
Sanders said the suspect was wearing a mask and blue clothing. Sanders said the shooter was wearing a protective vest.
"He didn't seem to be able to control the gun," Sanders said. "We shot him with a gun. After that he aimed at people but from the first two volleys he seemed out of control.
According to Sanders, the shooter appeared "very happy." The suspect yelled something, but Sanders couldn't make out his words because of the gunshots.
There was a pause after the first fire and Sanders, wounded in the back, was too shocked to move. A second volley followed. Sanders was shot in the leg.
He fell next to Kelly Loving. He was seriously injured. Before the police arrived, Sanders threw a coat at her to keep her from moving. The 40-year-old man did not survive.
"I did everything I could for him," Sanders said.
The gunman was standing next to her and the club's bartenders, Derek Ramp, 38, and Daniel Aston, 28, who both died when he entered.
"Somehow the angels took care of me and I got hurt," Sanders said.
Before the shooting ended, James Slough was shot in the arm and his friend, Del Valle, in the leg. According to James Slough, Charlene Slough was shot multiple times and initially underwent emergency eight-hour surgery to stabilize her pain.
"He's a fighter," Slough said. - He is strong.
James Slough The trio visit the Q Club to cheer up Charlene Slough after she recently broke up with her girlfriend. That night she met a new boyfriend named Anthony.
The club was a happy and safe place. Slav met his boyfriend eight months ago. People there called him by his name. They were about to go out into the night when filming started.
"All of a sudden we're hearing 'pop-pop-pop,'" Slough said. "I started to turn around and hit."
He fell. Antonio was also struck. Slav said he could not move his left hand. He used his right hand to call 911. He could not see Richard Fire or Thomas James, who disarmed and overpowered the gunman, ending the attack within minutes. Fierro served in the U.S. Army, and James, who was injured in the attack and was hospitalized in stable condition, is a U.S. Navy sailor, the military confirmed Tuesday.
Slough didn't see the fight, he only heard the silence broken by the pounding club techno music.
"The silence was definitely the worst," he said. "I didn't know if this guy was reloading, I didn't know if there was another gun or what happened, was it out of order or was it gone?" Then he said, "We have to call the police. We have to call the police."
"The Power of Love"
Anthony, who declined to give her last name, called her husband from the corner where she was shot.
"I told him. 'It's a shot, I'm involved, I'm fine,'" Anthony said at a news conference at Penrose Hospital on Tuesday.
He didn't know how serious the damage was. She thought she would never be able to hug her husband again.
But when Anthony arrived, Jeremy was in the hospital, bleeding from cuts on his back and arms. The couple, who have been together for 14 years, embraced. Both did not want to be named.
"You have to count your blessings every day," Anthony said.
Police arrived three minutes after the first call to 911. Sanders said rescuers put a tourniquet on his leg and took him to the parking lot to check on patients. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The paramedics unwrapped the new bright red suit he wore that night. A friend already suggested a replacement.
According to them, the attack has made Anthony and Jeremy feel less safe in public, although they are always happy to show their love to strangers.
Anthony said, "I never felt 100 percent safe and comfortable. Or you show a little kiss and suddenly everyone laughs at you. Like a lot of people think it's terrible."
Anthony and Jeremy said they want to speak to the public about love and perseverance. They felt safe at Club Q.
"We may be hurt and broken and broken right now, but we will be strong again," said Anthony, who is wheelchair-bound in a hospital gown.
Sanders and Slough echoed this sentiment.
"Hug your LGBTQ friends," Sanders said. "And don't believe other people's talk about homosexuals. We don't abuse children. Transvestites get along well with children. I hope people wake up and realize that we are normal people who are different in some areas of life.
As Slough recovers, he returns to the idea of love - love without limits.
"We have the capacity to love in this world," he said. "I don't care what anybody thinks."