COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Reuters) – An Iraqi and Afghan veteran who brought his family along to support one of his daughter’s friends, a drag show performer, was shot in Colorado. When he did, he said U.S. military training had taken over. LGBTQ club.
“It’s a reflection,” Rich Fierro told reporters gathered in the snow-covered front yard of his suburban Colorado Springs home on Monday night. Stop it, don’t hurt anyone.”
After five people were killed and at least 17 wounded, Fierro said he grabbed the suspect with the armor the shooter was wearing late Saturday, dragged him down and beat him using the shooter’s pistol. The dead included the boyfriend of Fierro’s daughter, whom Colorado Springs police identified as Raymond Green Vance.
In an earlier press conference, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers named Fierro as one of his “two heroes”, along with Thomas James, who “saved many lives” at Club Q in Colorado Springs.
Fierro has many other accusations, including a young man who was dancing with his daughter when the shooting began and dragged her to safety, and a drag performer who kicked the shooter with his high heels when Fierro held him down. said it was commendable.
“I’m no hero,” said Fierro. “I’m just a man.”
Authorities did not elaborate on the man’s actions, and Fierro’s comments provided details that investigators did not discuss. He said he was detained by the police for about an hour.
He mourned his daughter’s boyfriend, whom he had known since she was in high school.
“He’s a good boy. I loved him,” Fierro said.
Among the injured was Fierro’s best friend, a couple with two young children.
“I wish I could have saved everyone there,” said Fierro. “I wish I could have done more”
Fierro and his wife, Jess Fierro, own a brewery in Colorado Springs. Their Atrevida Beer Company closed Monday, and the family gathered at their quiet Colorado Springs suburban home to mourn.
Jess Fierro previously said she injured her husband’s hand, knee and ankle in a fight with the shooter.
Jess Fierro told Reuters the violence triggered her husband’s post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rich Fierro served 14 years in the military and was awarded a Bronze Star twice for serving as a field artillery officer on three expeditions to Iraq and one expedition to Afghanistan.
Reporting by Keith Coffman of Colorado Springs and Andrew Hay of Taos, New Mexico. Edited by Donna Bryson, Stephen Coates, Simon Cameron-Moore
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