Berks County, Pennsylvania native Derrick Wayne Rump was one of five people killed in a mass shooting at Club Q on the night of Saturday, Nov. 20. At least 18 other people were injured in the tragedy.
Witnesses say the Colorado Springs’ gay bar was celebrating Transgender Day of Rememberance when the assailant entered the bar, open firing an AK-style rifle while carrying other multiple firearms. At 11:56 p.m., the first call to police was made, according to Colorado Springs Police. That evening, Army Veteran, Richard Fierre, bravely confronted the gunman, disarming him, taking the shooter’s handgun and hitting him with it. His quick action saved many lives that night.
However, 38 year-old Rump, 28 year-old Daniel Aston, 40 year-old Kelly Loving, 35 year-old Ashley Paugh and 22 year-old Raymond Green Vance lost their lives that night.
“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” Club Q said in a statement posted to their Facebook page on Sunday. “Our prays and thoughts are with all the victims and their families and friends. We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”
Rump and Aston were both bartenders at Club Q. Patrons knew when Rump was working each night by whether or not Brittney Spears’ music could be heard from outside the club, reports The Washington Post. According to The Post, Rump began working for Club Q five years ago, and made a name for himself as a “good listener with a heavy pour.” He was seen by friends as the “glue that held together the queer community in Colorado Springs.”
Rump was known to be a friend to all Club Q guests. As a friend to many of the club’s performers, he would buy outfits and eyelashes for drag queens who could not afford them, reports The Post. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rump also purchased two months worth of groceries for some performers who lost their jobs.
Anthony Jaramillo, a Club Q regular and friend of Rump, said he welcomed everyone with a warm light.
“I guess I’m just waiting for someone to be like, ‘It’s the wrong Derrick,’” Jaramillo said in a tearful interview with CBS News. “When I went to Club Q, Derrick was going to be there, guaranteed, everytime. [Derreck] was loving, supportive and just a good listener — [he] 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.”
Friends say Rump often visited his family back in the Womelsdorf and Kutztown area in Pennsylavania, the same place where he graduated high school from in 2002, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Tragedies like this are hard to process and comprehend,” Kutztown Area School District said in a statement on Monday, Nov. 21. “Senseless violence taken against innocent bystanders and unsuspecting victims has become all too common in our society. Derrick will forever be a reminder of this for the Kutztown community.”
Rump’s passing came at a time when his family was already mourning the death of another family member — Rump’s younger brother, 37 year-old Dustin Wayne Rump, who passed away on July 5 of this year.
Rump’s mother, Julia Thames Rump, told The Inquirer that her son, Derrick, was always there for his family whenever their spirits needed to be lifted. She said he moved to Colorado to live the life he had always wanted.
“He was living his dream,” Julia Rump said in a phone interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He just wanted everybody to live their dreams like he did. Don’t stop; keep going.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 23, Rump’s sister, Julia Kissling, created a GoFundMe page to help raise money for family expenses as the family navigates through the loss. As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the family had raised $8,615 of their $25,000 goal.
