Club Q survivors react to shooter's guilty plea and life sentence: "a heavy day, but it's also a huge relief as well"
After a court hearing Monday where the shooter in the Club Q massacre pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, survivors of that November 2022 mass shooting spoke to CBS News Colorado with their reactions.
In that Colorado Springs shooting, five people were killed, 26 were injured and scores more survived, but with emotional and psychological trauma.
"One man changed our community -- my life -- within 45 seconds," said R.J. Lewis, a Club Q patron and survivor of the attack. "Everything was normal and peaceful and happy and then 10 minutes later it became a war zone and I lost the friend I was talking to minutes before."
RELATED: Shooter in attack that killed 5 at Colorado Springs gay nightclub pleads guilty, gets life in prison
The night of the shooting, Anderson Lee Aldrich entered Club Q just before midnight and started shooting. Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; Derrick Rump, 38; and Raymond Green Vance, 22 died from their injuries.
Lewis was in court Monday, watching the emotionally charged proceedings.
"I've had a ball of tissue paper, I gotta say. Just constant crying -- hearing from the victims' families to the victims and, as a survivor, just remembering that night, as well as anybody else, it's just triggering my PTSD in so many ways," Lewis said. "I don't really think he should have any rights. He took away my friends' rights, he took away my friends' lives, my right to just walk down the street without fear."
During victim statements in court, other survivors described similar feelings of paranoia and fear in their day-to-day activities; knowing where exits or hiding places are, terror when they hear something fall on the floor or hearing someone scream or cry.
They cried when recalling the sights and sounds of the shooting and spoke on behalf of friends who were killed in the attack. But they also demonstrated resolve, saying the shooter may have killed their loved ones, but not their spirit or their ongoing love in the LGBTQ+ community.
Michael Anderson is vice president of operations at Club Q. He clocked in that night to bartend alongside Aston and Rump. Anderson was the only one of the three to clock out that night.
He gave a statement in court and spoke to CBS News Colorado after the hearing concluded.
"It was very intense to stand up there, address the court with the man who tried to kill you a few feet away," Anderson said. "To close the book on this case today is so important to me and it's been a heavy day, but it's also a huge relief as well."
An important next step in the healing journey for these victims and survivors will be the eventual reopening of Club Q. The owner says it will reopen in the same spot, flying the highest pride flag they can and that the club will serve as both a memorial and a sign that hate will not win.
