COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — It was just before midnight on November 19th, 2022, when a person walked into Club Q and opened fire. It's off of North Academy blvd, near North Carefree circle. Good samaritans inside the club stopped the shooter before police arrived.
About 150 people gathered for an emotional candlelight vigil at Club Q Tuesday night.
The memorial of five pillars honors each victim and is nearly complete. Club Q is inviting local artists to collaborate with families to best reflect their loved ones. Interested artists can reach out through manager@clubqonline.com.
We wanted to check in again with the local lgbtq+ community to see how they are healing. The healing journey has been a bumpy ride, especially for those who were there that night.
Andrew Cronk was a performer at Club Q, aka "Mani Queen." He owns Cronk Art and Curiosities downtown. His store has a memorial to honor the victims of the shooting. Cronk says the shrine has been flooded with thousands of messages. You can see some of the personalized notes to the victims on display.
Cronk tells me the grief is something he will always have but the memorial does help. "We have to grow around we're not gonna heal and make it smaller. We just have to deal with it. Learn what to do next, how to handle the next steps and it's always gonna be there. You're always gonna revisit it every so often that's why we have the altar back there honestly."
I asked more about the origin of the memorial. Cronk says "It's ofrenda, where it's meant to celebrate. It's meant to highlight. It's meant to be a place of grieving or just remembering. So we took that idea and transformed it into the queer ofrenda... We figured if they don't get a celebrate pride, let's use that same concept of bringing them into our space and letting them be with us."
A friend of mine who wants to stay anonymous was there that night and was shot. I checked in with him- he says he's still coping with that night. Another friend I talked to, Josh Thurman, was also there. He says he notices a division and pain in the community, and that he feels worse than before. "I’m a survivor too but no one has come to me, reached out to me, or anything."
I stopped by Club Q on Monday and found another memorial under construction there. You can also see some flowers already outside in front of the victim's photos.
Tuesday, 11/19/24, people can come to a candlelight vigil at Club Q. That starts at 7:00 p.m.
Following the vigil, a gathering will be held at 'The Q.'
WATCH: 'The Q' holding gathering Tuesday two years after Club Q shooting
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