In a heroic feat, a combat veteran, and group of bystanders, worked together to demobilize a shooter in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub. 15-year army veteran Richard Fierro was at a drag show with his wife, daughter, and friends, to watch his daughter’s boyfriend perform, when 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich entered the club and began to open fire.

The 45-year-old ran across the room, then proceeded to grab Aldrich by the body armor, take him down, and jump on top of him. Fierro recalls, “I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode…I just know I have to kill the guy before he kills us.” He adds that he used a pistol the gunman was carrying to hit him in the head. Upon his request, other patrons held him down, while Fierro moved the rifle out of Aldrich’s reach.

Richard Fierro with other soldiers (Photo credit: Atrevida Beer Co)

At this time, another bystander used her high heels to smash the shooter’s face. Upon arrival of the police, the suspect was taken into custody. The nightclub shooter is currently still in the hospital. The suspect was arrested last year for making multiple violent threats against his mother.

Fierro and his family survived, though his daughter’s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was one of the 5 or more people senselessly killed. His wife Jess, and daughter Kassandra, sustained injuries but are recovering.

Fierro received both a bronze star and multiple other medals. He and his wife now own a brewery in Colorado Springs called Atrevida Beer Co.