{"id":586,"date":"2022-11-22T22:22:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T22:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/?p=586"},"modified":"2022-11-22T22:22:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T22:22:28","slug":"unarmed-ex-army-platoon-leader-helped-take-down-the-colorado-springs-shooter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/?p=586","title":{"rendered":"Unarmed Ex Army Platoon Leader Helped Take Down the Colorado Springs Shooter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\">\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171.jpg\" data-caption=\"Richard Fierro talks during a news conference outside his home about his efforts to subdue the gunman in Saturday's fatal shooting at Club Q, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171.jpg 8640w, https:\/\/www.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171-700x467.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AP22326062290171-560x373.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" alt=\"\" title=\"Colorado Springs Shooting Heroes\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Fierro talks during a news conference outside his home about his efforts to subdue the gunman in Saturday&#8217;s fatal shooting at Club Q, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-next-post-navi\">\n<p>\nNext Post Coming Soon&#8230;\u25b6\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>By Jesse Bedayn and Sam Metz, AP<\/p>\n<p>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<p>First he ducked to avoid any potential incoming fire, then he moved to try to disarm the shooter.<\/p>\n<p>\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 in Colorado Springs, where an American flag hung from the porch.<\/p>\n<p>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 semiautomatic rifle, who went on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/crime-shootings-colorado-gun-politics-denver-766baba4c80bb470eba9e6146c7b42aa\">a shooting rampage Saturday<\/a>\u00a0night at Club Q,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/business-shootings-colorado-gay-rights-112e79c6886defbcc07e2c7cec32a246\">a well-known gathering place<\/a>\u00a0for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/crime-shootings-colorado-denver-springs-79976bed902603de59bd7b6ba2b16aff\">Five people were killed<\/a>\u00a0and at least 17 wounded.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>Speaking to reporters at his home Monday, Fierro teared up as he recalled Raymond smiling and dancing before the shooting started.<\/p>\n<p>Fierro could smell the cordite from the ammunition, saw the flashes and dove, pushing his friend down before falling backwards.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/gun-violence-shootin\">the attacker<\/a>, 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<p>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<p>\u201cI tried to finish him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>When a clubgoer ran by in heels, Fierro told her to kick the gunman. She stuffed her high-heeled shoe in the attacker\u2019s face, Fierro said. Del Lusional, a drag queen who performed at Club Q on Saturday night, said on Twitter that the patron who intervened with her heel was a transgender woman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love them,\u201d Fierro said of the city\u2019s LGBTQ community. \u201cI have nothing but love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fierro served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as a field artillery officer and left the Army as a major in 2013, an army spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>He noted he had 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<p>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<p>\u201cI have never encountered a person who had engaged in such heroic actions who was so humble about it,\u201d Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said of Fierro on Monday. \u201cHe simply said to me, \u2018I was trying to protect my family.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The suspect, who was said to be carrying multiple guns and additional ammunition magazines, faces\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shootings-colorado-gun-politics-springs-7f079c7feebc32cc8ad46f2724844c18\">murder and hate crime charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The dude who took down the Colorado shooter owns a brewery.<\/p>\n<p>His wife is the brewmaster.<\/p>\n<p>They have merch: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3EgtLOhbHS\">https:\/\/t.co\/3EgtLOhbHS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ygWvVnY0n3\">pic.twitter.com\/ygWvVnY0n3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jer Thorp (@blprnt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/blprnt\/status\/1594836721102888960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 21, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that President Joe Biden had spoken with the Fierros. \u201cHe offered his condolences to them and also his support and talked through what it\u2019s like to grieve,\u201d Jean-Pierre said, adding that Biden thanked Fierro for his instinct to act and save lives.<\/p>\n<p>Though his actions saved lives, Fierro said the deaths \u2014 including his daughter\u2019s boyfriend, Vance \u2014 were a tragedy both personal and for the broader community. The self-described \u201cdude from San Diego\u201d who said he was from a family of immigrants rebuffed the idea that he was a hero and asked to keep focus on those whose lives were lost.<\/p>\n<p>\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<p>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<p>\u201cI\u2019m gonna see that guy in court,\u201d Fierro said. \u201cAnd that guy\u2019s gonna see who did him.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-next-post-navi\">\n<p>\nNext Post Coming Soon&#8230;\u25b6\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthaboutguns.com\/unarmed-ex-army-platoon-leader-helped-take-down-the-colorado-springs-shooter\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Fierro talks during a news conference outside his home about his efforts to subdue the gunman in Saturday&#8217;s fatal shooting at Club Q, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo\/Jack Dempsey) Next Post Coming Soon&#8230;\u25b6 By Jesse Bedayn and Sam Metz, AP When army veteran Rich Fierro realized a gunman was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}