Colorado hero a decorated army vet

A decorated Iraq and Afghanistan veteran said his army training took over when gunfire broke out at a Colorado LGBTQ club.

“It’s a reflex,” Rich Fierro told reporters gathered on the snow-covered front yard of his suburban Colorado Springs home Monday evening. “Go. Go to the fire. Stop the activity. Don’t let no one get hurt.”

Fierro, who had taken his family to support a drag show performer friend of his daughter, described grabbing the suspect by the armor the gunman was wearing, dragging him down and using the shooter’s pistol to beat him late Saturday after five people were killed and at least 17 wounded.

The dead included the boyfriend of Fierro’s daughter, identified by Colorado Springs police as Raymond Green Vance.

At an earlier news conference, Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers had identified Fierro as one of “two heroes,” along with Thomas James, who “saved a lot of lives” at Club Q in Colorado Springs.

“I’m straight,” Fierro said. “My kids are straight, but we go there ... Why? Because it’s about community.”

When the shooting broke out and Fierro rushed the gunman, pulled him to the ground, grabbed the gunman’s pistol and hit him with it, James helped by removing the shooter’s rifle and kicking him.

Meanwhile a drag performer stomped him with high heels as Fierro held him down.

“I wish I could have done more,” Fierro said.

“Those (five) people aren’t home tonight, and I am. And I’m really upset by that. It’s not something I’m proud of.”

Fierro – who served 14 years in the military and was awarded the Bronze Star twice as he served as a field artillery officer during three tours of Iraq and a tour of Afghanistan – said many others deserved credit, including a young man who had been dancing with his daughter and dragged her to safety when the shooting started.

Shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was known to law enforcement, having been arrested in June 2021 after his mother reported he threatened to detonate a bomb and harm her with multiple weapons. He is in hospital under guard.

Police held him on initial charges including five counts of first-degree murder and bias crimes, but prosecutors said they expected to file formal criminal charges that may differ once he is out of the hospital.

I wish I could have done more. Those five people aren’t home tonight, and I am. And I’m really upset by that. It’s not something I’m proud of