COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Two years after a shooting that killed five people and injured 25 others at Club Q in Colorado Springs, survivors are demanding damages from parties they deem responsible for the tragedy that still haunts them.
Two new civil lawsuits filed on behalf of shooting survivors and the families of those killed allege the owners of the nightclub were negligent with security, and that both the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners and the El Paso County sheriff refused to enforce Colorado's "red flag" law, which would've prevented the shooter from possessing firearms. Both suits were filed in U.S. District Court for the state of Colorado.
There are 12 plaintiffs between the two lawsuits – people who have experienced loss, physical injuries and "psychological pain and trauma," the lawsuit says. Now, those same people are demanding damages for lasting harm: the deaths of loved ones, injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and emotional distress.
They're also asking that the defendants cover their attorneys' fees and pay for contributing to the harm, whether by action or inaction.
"The Club Q shooting was perpetrated by the violent actions of a single individual," one of the lawsuits claims. "However, this tragedy was enabled by systemic failures, including law enforcement’s refusal to enforce Colorado’s Red Flag Law, which could have prevented the shooter from possessing firearms, and inadequate security measures at Club Q."
In the late night hours of Nov. 19, 2022, the shooter entered Club Q and opened fire with an AR-15-style assault rifle. They killed five people and injured 25 others before they were stopped, not by the club's only security guard, but by patrons of the nightclub.
The shooter was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as 55 concurrent life sentences to run consecutive to a 190-year sentence in federal court.
One lawsuit names the shooter and demands damages for assault and battery. That lawsuit, filed on behalf of a singular survivor, claims the plaintiff was shot seven times.
The other lawsuit was filed by 11 plaintiffs, including eight shooting survivors and three people filing on behalf of deceased victims Raymond Green, Kelly Loving and Derrick Rump.
Claims of negligent security
The lack of security, especially in an environment geared toward the LGBTQ+ community, was a foreseeable risk, the lawsuits claim.
"Club Q advertised itself as a 'safe space' for LGBTBQIA+ individuals. But that was a façade," one document says.
Founding Club Q owner Michael Haynes and co-owners Kenneth Romines and Nicholas Grzecka are named in the lawsuit as parties responsible for the club's security, or lack thereof.
"Haynes and Club Q exercised an utter disregard for the safety of individuals on the premises, violating the duty of care they owed to keep people safe," one lawsuit claims.
The lawsuits say that in 2022, despite an increased awareness for greater security at LGBTQ+ nightclubs, Club Q reduced its security team from five to one. The club also no longer employed an armed guard.
The lone security guard was also a barback and a food runner. Additionally, he had not been background checked or trained as a security guard, one lawsuit claims, which meant protecting patrons was "an impossible task."
"But for these inadequate and defective security policies, procedures, and safeguards employed by Club Q, among other negligent and wrongful conduct, the mass shooting would not and could not have occurred," one lawsuit says.
In addition to the owners, the lawsuit also names various LLCs and G.I.G., Inc., all of which were involved with the operations of the nightclub.
Claims of failure to enforce red flag laws
The lawsuits claim that the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners and then-El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder could have prevented the tragedy by enforcing Colorado's red flag law. They didn't.
The law authorizes law enforcement officials and family members to petition a court for a civil order, referred to as an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), which prevents individuals at risk of harming themselves or others from possessing or purchasing firearms.
In 2019, before Colorado’s red flag law was signed, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed Resolution No. 19-76, which declared El Paso County a “Second Amendment preservation county,” formally opposed to the law, according to the lawsuits.
Separately, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office adopted a policy opposing the red flag law in 2020, the lawsuits say.
One lawsuit says the sheriff’s office, under Elder's leadership, issued a statement saying that “[a] member of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office will not petition for an ERPO or TRPO unless exigent circumstances exist, and probable cause can be established pursuant to 16-3-301 C.R.S that a crime is being or has been committed.”
The statement also said, “[a]bsent probable cause and a signed search warrant, members of the Sheriff’s Office will not conduct searches for firearms.”
By the time of the Club Q shooting in 2022, one lawsuit says, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office had not filed a single ERPO petition under the red flag law, including against the Club Q shooter, whose family had reported a series of concerning incidents to law enforcement.
By not enforcing the red flag law, the lawsuits claim, both Elder and the board of commissioners "actively created or increased the danger to Plaintiffs by maintaining policies and practices that heightened their vulnerability to private violence."
"Elder’s deliberate policy of non-enforcement of Colorado’s Red Flag Law, coupled with his conscious disregard of explicit and credible threats, demonstrated a willful indifference to Plaintiffs’ safety and constitutional rights," one lawsuit claims.
It goes on to similarly castigate the board, saying, "The deliberate indifference demonstrated by the Board in refusing to address known threats, coupled with its policy of non-enforcement of Colorado’s Red Flag Law, created conditions that directly facilitated the Club Q shooting."
A spokesperson for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said the office does not comment on pending litigation.