{"id":37160,"date":"2022-11-22T10:55:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T17:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veteran-helped-disarm-gunman-at-gay-club-in-colorado-springs\/"},"modified":"2022-11-22T17:55:40","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T17:55:40","slug":"veteran-helped-disarm-gunman-at-gay-club-in-colorado-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veteran-helped-disarm-gunman-at-gay-club-in-colorado-springs\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran helped disarm gunman at gay club in Colorado Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Richard
Richard Fierro talks during a news conference outside his home Monday about his efforts to subdue the gunman in Saturday's fatal shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)<\/span>Jack Dempsey<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

COLORADO SPRINGS \u2013 When army veteran Rich Fierro realized a gunman was spraying bullets inside the club where he had gathered with friends and family, instincts from his military training immediately kicked in.<\/p>\n

First he ducked to avoid any potential incoming fire, then moved to try to disarm the shooter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the reflex. Go! Go to the fire. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don\u2019t let no one get hurt. I tried to bring everybody back,\u201d he said Monday outside his home.<\/p>\n

Fierro is one of two people police are crediting with saving lives by subduing a 22-year-old man armed with multiple firearms, including an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, who went on a shooting rampage Saturday night at Club Q, a well-known gathering place for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. Five people were killed and at least 17 wounded.<\/p>\n

Fierro was there with his daughter Kassy, her boyfriend and several other friends to see a drag show and celebrate a birthday. He said it was one of the group\u2019s most enjoyable nights. That suddenly changed when the shots rang out and Kassy\u2019s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was fatally shot.<\/p>\n

\"Richard
Richard Fierro talks during a news conference outside his home about his efforts to subdue the gunman in Saturday's shooting at Club Q. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)<\/span>Jack Dempsey<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Speaking to reporters at his home Monday, Fierro teared up as he recalled Raymond smiling and dancing before the shots rang out.<\/p>\n

Fierro could smell the cordite from the ammunition, saw the flashes and dove, pushing his friend down before falling backward.<\/p>\n

Looking up from the floor, Fierro saw the shooter\u2019s body armor and the crowd that had fled to the club\u2019s patio. Moving toward the attacker, Fierro grasped the body armor, yanked the shooter down while yelling at another patron, Thomas James, to move the rifle out of reach.<\/p>\n

As the shooter was pinned under a barrage of punches from Fierro and kicks to the head from James, he tried to reach for his pistol. Fierro grabbed it and used it as a bludgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to finish him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When a performer who was there for the drag show ran by, Fierro told them to kick the gunman. The performer stuffed a high-heeled shoe in the attacker\u2019s face, Fierro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love them,\u201d Fierro said of the city\u2019s LGBTQ community. \u201cI have nothing but love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fierro served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and said he\u2019s dealt with violence. That\u2019s what he signed up for. \u201cNobody in that club asked to do this,\u201d he said, but everyone \u201cis going to have to live with it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fierro and James, about whom little was known as of Monday evening, pinned the shooter down until officers arrived minutes later. Fierro was briefly handcuffed and sat in a police car as law enforcement tried to calm the chaos.<\/p>\n

Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said Monday that Fierro acted courageously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never encountered a person who had engaged in such heroic actions who was so humble about it,\u201d Vasquez said. \u201cHe simply said to me, \u2018I was trying to protect my family.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about being hailed a hero, Fierro demurred. \u201cI\u2019m just some dude from San Diego,\u201d he said, standing outside his home and alternating between English and a smattering of Spanish words.<\/p>\n

The suspect, who was said to be carrying multiple guns and additional ammunition magazines, faces murder and hate crime charges.<\/p>\n

Fierro\u2019s wife, Jess, said via Facebook that her husband had bruised his right side and injured his hands, knees and ankle. \u201cHe was covered in blood,\u201d she wrote on the page of their brewery, Atrevida Beer Co.<\/p>\n

Though his actions saved lives, Fierro said the deaths \u2013 including his daughter\u2019s boyfriend, Vance \u2013 were a tragedy both personal and for the broader community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are five people that I could not help. And one of which was family to me,\u201d he said, as his brother put a consoling hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

Fierro said he doesn\u2019t remember if the gunman responded as he yelled and struggled to subdue him, but he has thought about their next interaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna see that guy in court,\u201d Fierro said. \u201cAnd that guy\u2019s gonna see who did him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metz reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018It\u2019s the reflex. Go! Go to the fire. Stop the action,\u2019 says Rich Fierro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37160"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}