NEWS: Another Gay Nightclub Shooting

It’s been almost six months since the delay Pulse shootings in Orlando claimed the lives of almost 50 members of the LGBTQ community, and the community is still very much trying to heal from those wounds. Now, news has come out of another shooting at a gay nightclub in Albany, New York yesterday.

According to a report from WNYT-TV, one person was killed in the gay nightclub Rocks Bar. Aside from the one fatality, police who arrived at the scene also revealed that one man and two women were also injured in the shooting.

While the incident is troubling, Steve Smith, the Albany police spokesperson, says that the shooting does not appear to be a hate crime, or to specifically target the LGBTQ community. Property owner Peter Hitchcock believes it was just “one bad apple in the bunch.”

“The one thing we want to let members of our community know, especially the members of our LGBT community know, is that this is not a random act, this bar was not targeted for any specific reason,” adds Smith.

Despite the shooting, the community has shown incredible resilience, with the bar reopening to host its annual Thanksgiving dinner. The Pride Center of the Capital Region also released a statement on social media that said: ““The APD (Albany Police Department) assured me that this was not biased related but a personal issue between the people involved. Regardless, an act of violence happened in one of our community spaces and a life was lost in one of our sanctuaries.  As a testament to their unbreakable spirit, ROCKS will be open today to welcome our community in for Thanksgiving.”

How do you feel about this new shooting at a gay nightclub? Are you comforted by the fact that it doesn’t appear to be a hate crime? Share your thoughts and comments in the comments section below!