Eastern PA Native Among 5 Dead In Mass Shooting At LGBTQ Club

EASTERN PA — An eastern Pennsylvania native is among five people who were killed at a mass shooting in an LGBTQ club in Colorado late Saturday night, according to authorities and multiple media reports.

Derrick Rump, 38, a bartender and supervisor at Club Q in Colorado Springs, was killed when a 22-year-old opened fire as he entered the establishment, police said.

Some 25 others were injured, authorities said.

"Know that you had an impact on everyone that walked into the bar," a friend, Steven Grantham, wrote in a Facebook post memoralizaing Rump and another victim which hundreds interacted with. "Your friendship, smiles, your laughs, and your spicyness will be missed. I’m glad I got to see you on Friday and hug you both, what was unknowingly our last time. I’ll treasure that forever."

A 2002 graduate of Kutztown Area High School, Rump had been living and working in the Colorado Springs area for years, friends said in dozens of posts shared to social media memorializing him. He was remembered by countless friends and acquaintances for his warmth and openness.

RELATED: Shooter Kills 5 At Gay Club In Colorado, Subdued By Patrons: Police

Rump helped organize the event that was held at the club the night of the shooting, a drag show with a DJ and dancing, according to his Facebook page.

Patrons of the nightclub fought with the shooter and were able to subdue him. Police arrived shortly thereafter and took him into custody.

The Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs said that Sunday was dubbed Transgender Day of Remembrance.

"As we come together, we are reminded today and always that we must continue to uplift, support, and center the most vulnerable among us in our fight against transphobia," the group said in a statement.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected governor in 2018, called the shooting "sickening."

"My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured and traumatized," Polis said. "Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn."

A makeshift memorial sprang up Sunday near the club, with flowers, a stuffed animal and candles, and a sign saying "Love over hate" next to a rainbow-colored heart.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.