Richard Fierro, a U.S. Army veteran, explained to reporters that once the gunman opened fire at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, his “combat mode” kicked in as he was attending a friend’s birthday party alongside his wife and daughter.
As explained in a report from The New York Times, Fierro and his friends — as well as all those present in the club — dove for cover and quickly dropped to the ground as the gunman opened fire. However, as the gravity of the event sunk into Fierro, his training kicked him into action.
“I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode. I just know I have to kill this guy before he kills us,” stated Fierro, stating that he held cover until the shooter shifted to the patio before taking the chance to charge the madman. He reportedly utilized the straps of the shooter’s body armor to manhandle him and throw him to the ground.
As soon as he had the shooter on the ground, Fierro explained that he was able to take away the shooter’s pistol, hitting him with the gun and calling on other people to help in the locking down of the shooter until the law enforcement officials arrived
Atrevida Beer Company, which is owned by the hero and his wife Jess Fierro, highlighted a detailed account of the events that night.
“I have struggled with how to address the horrific series of events that has occurred. My family, friends and I decided to have a fun night out. We went to @clubqcoloradosprings to celebrate another dear friends birthday. Unfortunately, we were all there when the shooter entered. It was absolute havoc. It was terrifying,” stated Jess.
“Kassy broke her knee as she was running for cover. Our best friends were both shot multiple times. I bruised the right side of my body and Rich injured both his hands, knees and ankle as he apprehended the shooter. He was covered in blood,” she went on.
“Everyone is recovering, thankfully. No one. NO ONE should ever have to witness bloodshed like this,” she continued, highlighting that the family was not heavily grieving the loss of the high school sweetheart of their daughter.
“With an incredibly heavy and broken heart we lost Raymond, who had been a part of our lives since our daughter was in high school. Raymond was Kassy’s boyfriend. We are going to miss him and his bright smile so much,” she finished. “We are going through a lot of emotions as a family and as a brewery. The loss of lives and the injured are in our hearts. We are devastated and torn. We love our #lgbtq community and stand with them. This cowardly and despicable act of hate has no room in our lives or business. F*** HATE. It has left us and our community scarred but not broken. Much love to everyone.”