Bartender tried to escape club. He unexpectedly saw gunman on the ground

I WILL NOT SAY GOOD MORNING TO YOU BECAUSE IT IS NOT A GOOD DAY FOR YOU. AS YOU TAKE? I'M TAKING IT MINUTE BY MINUTE, HOUR BY HOUR. THIS TYPE OF SITUATION TENDS TO COME IN WAVES, I FOUND, WITH ME AND OTHER PEOPLE I'VE SPOKEN TO SINCE THAT NIGHT. CHAOTIC, CAN YOU TAKE US INSIDE IF YOU DON'T MIND RELIVING THIS? OF COURSE. OF COURSE. THAT... I WAS WORKING BEHIND THE BAR ON A SEEING NORMAL SATURDAY NIGHT. AND AROUND 11:55 OR SO, I HEARD SOME POPS. POP SOUNDS. AND AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE CADILACKIN FANS OFTEN SEEN IN LGBTQ CLUBS.

When I looked up, I realized that was not the case. I SAW THE OUTLINE OF A MAN HOLDING A RIFLE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CLUB, PROBABLY ABOUT 15 FEET FROM ME. And then, you know, I took a moment to record what was happening, but once I realized, this was actually happening in real life to me and my friends, I hid behind the bar. WHILE I DID IT, THE GLASS STARTED VOMITING EVERYWHERE, AROUND ME. NOW I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU KNOW DANIEL ASTON, WHO WAS KILLED IN THE CLUB? YES. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? I HAVE KNOWN DANIEL ASTON FOR A FEW YEARS.

MOST RECENT: HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FRIEND TO ME, BUT HE WAS MY SUPERVISOR AT CLUB Q. HE WAS THE BAR SUPERVISOR AND THE BEST SUPERVISOR ANYONE COULD HAVE ASKED FOR. IT MADE ME WANT TO GO TO WORK AND IT MADE ME WANT TO, YOU KNOW, BE PART OF THE POSITIVE CULTURE WE WERE TRYING TO CREATE THERE. AND HE WAS AN INCREDIBLE PERSON. HE WAS A LIGHT IN MY LIFE. IT'S STILL SURREAL THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HIM IN THE PAST TENSE LIKE THIS. MY COLLEAGUES ARE ALSO HERE. WE ALL HAVE MANY QUESTIONS FOR YOU. SORRY, I DIDN'T SAY THAT.

WE ARE SORRY WHAT HAPPENED. THANK YOU, DON. WE ARE VERY SORRY. AS DON SAID, IT'S DIFFICULT TO ASK WHAT HAPPENED AND BRING IT BACK TO LIFE, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT, AS YOU KNOW, FOR THE RESEARCH, FOR WHAT THE INVESTIGATORS ARE LOOKING AT. DID YOU HEAR THE SUSPECT SAY ANYTHING? I KNOW THERE WAS MUSIC PLAYING BUT IT WAS LOUD BUT ALSO QUIET BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE OBVIOUSLY WITNESSES THIS SHOOTING, HIDING FROM THIS PERSON. DID YOU HEAR HIM SAY ANYTHING WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON? ME - THE CLOSEST I WAS TO HIM WHERE I COULD PHYSICALLY SEE A PERSON'S ENTIRE BODY WAS WHEN HE IMMEDIATELY WALKED INTO THE CLUB.

I WAS NEVER CLOSE ENOUGH OR I WAS NEVER QUIET ENOUGH TO HEAR IF HE SAID SOMETHING. You know, I

tried

to be one of those people who

tried

to hide from him. So... I tried to avoid seeing him. So I didn't hear anything, no. MICHAEL, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. I KNOW AT ONE MOMENT, WHILE YOU WERE HIDING, I THOUGHT WHEN LOOKING AT THAT GUN, HE LOOKED RIGHT AT THE BARREL OF THE GUN, HE THOUGHT HE WAS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT AND HE DID. AND THERE WERE HEROES AROUND YOU, CERTAINLY, WHO KNEW THE GUNMAN DOWN.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? YES. THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN I FEARED THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO LEAVE THAT CLUB ALIVE. AND I -- I HAD NEVER PRAYED SO SINCERELY AND QUICKLY IN MY LIFE AS I DID AT THAT MOMENT. HOW I WAS ANTICIPING THAT RESULT AND FEARING FOR THAT RESULT. HE STAYED IN SILENCE WHILE HE WAS PRAYING AND WAITING, HE STAYED IN SILENCE, THE SHOTS STOPPED. SO WE STAY THERE FOR A MINUTE, MINUTE AND A HALF, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I COULD NOT SEE, IT WAS HIDDEN IN A CORNER.

So I kept my head down, but after a minute and a half I decided I needed to get out of there. So I got up and when I walked in I saw what I thought was probably the

gunman

lying on the

ground

being punched, kicked and screamed at by two very brave people, who I still don't know the identity of those two people. BUT I HOPE TO FIND OUT IT ONE DAY, BECAUSE I REALLY BELIEVE THAT THOSE TWO PEOPLE SAVED MY LIFE. OUR CORRESPONDENT NICK WATT, POPPY SPOKE TO HIM MOMENTS BEFORE YOU CAME IN. HE SAYS: I DON'T WANT TO GET AHEAD.

BUT HE SAYS MOST PEOPLE HAVE MADE A DECISION. THEY BELIEVE IT WAS A HATE CRIME THAT WAS PERPETRATED AGAINST THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? I - I HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT - I MEAN, THERE ARE A LOT OF CLUBS - LOOK HOW MANY CLUBS THERE ARE IN COLORADO SPRINGS AND HOW MANY GAY CLUBS THERE ARE IN COLORADO SPRINGS, THERE ARE TWO. AND THEN ALL THE OTHER CLUBS WOULD NOT BE PART OF THAT STATISTICS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS MAN. I DON'T KNOW WHY I NEEDED TO ACT THIS WAY. BUT OBVIOUSLY I HAD SOME FEELINGS TOWARD...

I DON'T KNOW IF THEY WERE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE, GAY, LESBIAN, I DON'T KNOW. CLUB Q IS A SAFE PLACE FOR EVERYONE. EVERYONE ON THE RAINBOW SPECTRUM. SO I DON'T KNOW WHO IT WAS ADDRESSED BUT I FEEL LIKE IT WAS SOMETHING DIRECTLY ADDRESSED TO MY COMMUNITY. ONCE AGAIN IN OUR COUNTRY. WE BRING SONY BURTS FROM THE STATE ADVOCATE LEAD TO PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF LGBTQ PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES. GOOD MORNING TO ALL OF YOU. YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE CLUB Q MAINTAINS SUCH SYMBOLISM. WE HEARD THE GOVERNOR SAY OVER THE WEEKEND THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SAFE SPACE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND IT WAS NOTHING.

ROSA JUST REPORTED THAT THE D.A. IT'S LOOKING AT THIS, INVESTIGATING THIS THROUGH THE LENS OF A HATE CRIME. HE IS ONE STEP AWAY FROM SAYING THAT IT WAS DEFINITELY A HATE CRIME. I WONDER IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS ON YOUR MIND. NO. TO ME, WE DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT MOTIVES AND STUFF AS AN INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING AND CONTINUING, BUT I THINK AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN IN CLUB Q AND GROWN UP IN CLUB Q IN A LOT OF WAYS, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU COULD CALL IT AT THE MOMENT. SO IF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAFE SPACE, IS THERE ANY SAFE SPACE FOR MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY IN COLORADO SPRINGS RIGHT NOW?

WHAT ARE THEY TELLING YOU? I THINK NOW WE ARE - WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE ARBITRATORS OF OUR SAFE SPACES, RIGHT? WE ARE ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING THEM. UNFORTUNATELY, IN MANY WAYS, WE HAVE BEEN THE ONLY PEOPLE INVESTING IN KEEPING THEM SAFE. I THINK NOW THERE ARE NOT MANY SAFE SPACES IN REALITY I THINK WHAT EVERYONE FEELS IS THIS IMMENSE AMOUNT OF PAIN, IMMENSE AMOUNT OF PAIN, IMMENSE AMOUNT OF INDESCRIBABLE FEELINGS FOR AN UNIMAGINABLE SITUATION THAT, UNFORTUNATELY WITH THE LANDSCAPE OF WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST IT IS IMAGINABLE IN MANY WAYS. RIGHT NOW I THINK IT'S UP TO US TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND FIND OUT HOW WE CAN CREATE THOSE SAFE SPACES, BUT ALSO HAVE PEOPLE OUTSIDE OUR COMMUNITY INVESTED IN KEEPING THEM SAFE.

MICHAEL ANDERSON IS THE BARTENDER KAITLAN MENTIONED MOMENTS AGO. I WANT YOU TO LISTEN AND RESPOND. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FRIEND TO ME, BUT HE WAS MY SUPERVISOR AT CLUB Q. HE WAS THE BAR SUPERVISOR AND THE BEST SUPERVISOR ANYONE COULD HAVE ASKED FOR. IT MADE ME WANT TO COME TO WORK AND IT JUST MADE ME WANT TO BE PART OF THE POSITIVE CULTURE WE WERE TRYING TO CREATE THERE. INCREDIBLE PERSON. HE WAS A LIGHT IN MY LIFE, AND IT'S STILL SURREAL THAT WE TALK ABOUT HIM IN THE PAST TENSE LIKE THIS. HE'S TALKING ABOUT DANIEL ASTON, WHO WAS KILLED ON SATURDAY NIGHT WHILE HE WAS ALSO BARKING AT THE CLUB.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT? IT'S - IT'S DEFINITELY HARD TO LISTEN TO SOMEONE THAT MANY PEOPLE I'VE LISTEN TO UP TO THIS POINT HEAR PEOPLE DESCRIBE AS A BEACON OF LIGHT AND A WONDERFUL PERSON TO WORK WITH. HEARING SOMEONE HAVE TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE IN THE PAST TENSE THAT THEY JUST SAW OR JUST HAD AN INTERACTION WITH IS HEARTBREAKING, AND THE DESCRIPTION TAKES ME TO A PLACE WHERE THE Q CLUB HAS BEEN THAT. SO THAT PERSON REPRESENTED WHAT CLUB Q WAS FOR ALL OF US, AN OPEN AND WELCOME SPACE THAT MADE US FEEL LIKE WE COULD BE OURSELVES, ESPECIALLY IN SITUATIONS WHERE MANY PEOPLE CAN'T BE AUTHENTIC AT HOME.

THE Q CLUB PROVIDED THAT THE SAFE SPACE AND THE BAR TENDERS WAS PART OF THAT ECOSYSTEM. STONEY, YOU TALK ABOUT THE NEED FOR PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY TO INVEST IN IT. AFTER THIS, AS WE LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RESEARCH, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR FROM YOUR POLITICAL LEADERS, FROM YOUR ELECTED LEADERS IN THE STATE WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THIS? I THINK THAT'S POINT FOR US. I OFTEN THINK THAT WHEN THINGS HAPPEN, THERE ARE A LOT OF WATCHES AND SPACE FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO CRY AND BEGIN THAT PROCESS AS A COMMUNITY, AND I VERY OFTEN THINK THAT THERE ARE, WHETHER LOCAL OFFICIALS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE THAT COME AND THEY'RE THERE FOR THAT FIRST WAVE OF PAIN, BUT AFTER THAT THERE'S REALLY NOTHING TANGIBLE THAT WE CAN LOOK BACK AT AND SAY THIS IS WHAT CAME OUT OF THAT.

I THINK WHAT WE NEED FROM OUR LEADERS RIGHT NOW IS TO JUST BE FAITHFUL TO WHAT THEY SAY IN THEIR SPEECHES, IMPLEMENT THOSE THINGS, AND WE ALSO NEED TO SIT AT THE TABLE AND FIND OUT WHAT THE NEXT STEPS ARE, BECAUSE AS TRAGICAL AND HEART-WEARING AS THEY ARE, Under these circumstances, our work truly begins today. WE HAVE TO MAKE SPACE FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO CRY AND BE HERE FOR THEM AND PROVIDE COMMUNITY, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO HAVE ACTION BEHIND OUR WORDS AND THAT'S UP TO OUR LOCAL FEDERAL AND STATE OFFICIALS TO DO THAT.