“Richard Fierro, a decorated Army veteran, was one of two people who tackled and subdued the gunman inside a gay nightclub Saturday night in Colorado Springs,” NBC News reported on Monday, November 21, 2022 (read story here).
News reports have described Club Q as a “safe space” for gay people. And when you read “gay nightclub” you may tend to think of a bar filled with gay people hitting on each other. But Fierro isn’t gay, nor was he there looking for sex.
Fierro (photo below), his wife, their daughter, and family friends were at Club Q celebrating a friend’s birthday. HIs wife said later, “We were having a great time, we were all on the dance floor.”
She wasn’t hurt; when gunfire erupted, she fled to a patio area. But two of her “best friends” were shot, and their daughter broke a knee running for cover. The daughter’s boyfriend (who obviously isn’t gay) was one of the 5 people killed.
Fierro, 45, spent 15 years in the Army as an artillery officer, with four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He earned medals. He should get another one for what he did in Club Q. His wife says, “My husband knocked the guns out of his hands and took the pistol and literally started hitting the guy with it.” Another man, Thomas James, also tackled the shooter.
A family friend wasn’t surprised by what Fierro did, saying bravery “would come naturally to him.” Fierro and his wife own a microbrewery in Colorado Springs.
