Berks County native killed in LGBTQ nightclub mass shooting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police are investigating whether a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was a hate crime. Five people are dead and 25 others were left injured.
The suspect was arrested after being subdued by patrons.
One of those killed was a person originally from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Derrick Rump was one of two bartenders killed in the shooting. Friends said Rump welcomed everyone into Club Q with a warmth and light that has now been tragically dimmed.
"I guess I'm just waiting for someone to be like, 'Oh, it's the wrong Derrick,'" Anthony Jaramillo, a friend of Rump, said.
Jaramillo said Rump loved working for Club Q as a bartender, and became a staple of the LGBTQ bar.
"When I went to Club Q, Derrick was going to be there guaranteed every time," Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo said while the Kutztown Area High School grad often visited his family in Pennsylvania, he had a way of making those in Colorado Springs feel like family.
"Loving, supportive, with a heavy hand in his drink pouring, and just a really good listener and would not be afraid to tell you when you were wrong instead of telling you what you wanted to hear and that was really valuable," Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo is now one of thousands mourning the loss of his friend, along with four others in the nation's latest mass shooting.
"Out of everything, that is the thing the Springs is going to miss the most is that we don't have him anymore, so it really sucks," Jaramillo said.
Christopher Hansen, who survived the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, said his mind goes to the survivors in the hours and days after this latest tragedy.
"To have that safe haven ruptured to where it's going to forever be tainted and stained of that pain," Hansen said.
Hansen hopes others with friends in the LGBTQ community will come together to support one another now more than ever.
"It's kind of like a hurricane," Hansen said. "This is your storm, the beginning of it."
In a statement on its Facebook page, Club Q called the shooting a "hate attack," although police have yet to determine if it was.
Rump was 38 years old.
The city of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT affairs reacted to the violence in Colorado.
A statement sent to CBS3 reads:
"We are devastated by the latest act of mass gun violence against our LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs. It is particularly outrageous that this senseless act coincides with Transgender Day of Remembrance, a somber occasion for our community to mourn those lost, year after year, in the ongoing epidemic of violence against our trans siblings, and a day specifically designated to shed light on and prevent these kinds of hateful incidents from happening in the first place. Make no mistake, there is a direct line between the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that has risen significantly in recent years, and the nearly unchecked availability of firearms that make horrific events like this possible. We condemn this in the strongest language possible and seek justice for the victims and their loved ones. We must and will continue to work with our community partners to foster spaces where LGBTQ+ Philadelphians can feel safe in community with one another and speak out against anti-LGBTQ acts wherever they occur."
