SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One of the men who jumped in to stop the shooter at Club Q over the weekend in Colorado Springs is originally from San Diego.
Richard Fierro spoke to a crowd of media outside his home Monday night, including to KGTV’s sister station KOAA.
Fierro described the events of that night in raw, emotional detail, sharing how he realized there was a shooting inside the club and his quick action to stop the killing.
“I grabbed [the shooter] by the back of his little cheap ass armor thing and pulled him down,” Fierro said.
The Army veteran says another person inside the club quickly jumped in to help to try to disarm him.
“I grabbed the pistol from him. and then I told the guy, ‘Move the AR!’ The kid in front of me, because he was at his head, I said, ‘Move the AR. Get the AR away from him.’ And the kid did it,” Fierro said. “Then I started whaling on this dude. And I'm on top of him. I'm a big dude, man. This guy was bigger. And I just kept whaling on him. And I told the kid in front of me, ‘Kick him in his head! Keep kicking him in his head!’”
While the two men hit and kicked the shooter repeatedly, Fierro says a drag performer ran by in heels and he told her to kick the guy. Fierro says she took her high heel and stuffed it in his face.
The veteran says he wasn't thinking and that his military training just kicked in. He says he served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.
“I wasn’t thinking ... just ran over there, got him. I gotta kill this guy, he’s going to kill my kid, he’s going to kill my wife; he ended up killing my daughter's boyfriend,” said Fierro.
Fierro and his wife are both originally from San Diego. His wife is the owner and brewmaster of Atrevida Brewing in Colorado Springs, one of the few Latina-owned craft breweries in the nation.
Atrevida even partnered with Barrio Logan’s Border X Brewery for a collab beer, called Amistad.
On Monday, Border X’s owner, David Favela sent his love to his fellow craft beer brewers, including Fierro's daughter, who lost her boyfriend.
"What he did was really consistent with his character, but still nonetheless amazing the kids of courage it took to do what he did," said Favela.
Back in Colorado, Fierro says he doesn't remember if the gunman said anything to him during the struggle but is ready to face him in the courtroom.
Fierro said he's reluctant to wear the "hero" label despite likely saving countless lives.
"I'm not a hero. I'm just some dude," he said. "Everybody find their heroes this Thanksgiving at the dinner table. You know, mom and dad or aunt and uncle or whoever you want."
