Richard M.Fierro, the hero who disarmed the Colorado killer (but didn’t save his daughter’s boyfriend) – Corriere.it

Self Richard M. Fierroformer Army major who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, had not spoken on Saturday night during the shooting at Club Q of Colorado Springs, immobilizing the killer and hitting him repeatedly with the butt of the gun after having taken it from him, the victims would be been many more than five
. Fierro had gone to celebrate a birthday. He was sitting with his wife Jessica, daughter Kassy, ​​the girl’s boyfriend since high school, Raymond Greenand some friends, watching the drag queen show, when the killer walked in and started shooting. The ex-soldier threw himself to the ground, pulling a friend with him. Then, as bullets sliced ​​through the air, he located the bomber, who had already killed young bartenders Daniel Aston and Derrick Rump and advanced towards an open space where dozens of customers had taken refuge, including his wife and daughter.

Many times, in 15 years of service, Fierro had come under enemy fire and explosive devices, he’d had enough of the war that left a wound in him. But something snapped inside him. I entered combat mode. I knew I had to kill him before he killed us, he told al New York Times. ran across the hall, he grabbed the killer from behind for the bulletproof vest. Aldrich was massive, a boy of about 300 pounds, Fierro says, but he knocked him to the ground and jumped on top of him. The rifle slipped off, both tried to grab it, but the bomber also had a pistol. I snatched it from his hand and started hitting him on the head with it, over and over. As he beat him and the insults flew, Fierro cried out for help. And then, one after the other, the customers came to the rescue: one grabbed the rifle, one drag queen she stomped the killer under her stiletto heels. A few minutes later, when the police arrived, Aldrich was no longer rebelling. Fierro was covered in blood, he feared he killed him. L‘bomber was taken to hospital, the hero instead ended up handcuffed in a car for more than an hour: he screamed to let him go, he had to understand what had happened to his family. Her wife escaped with bruises, her daughter broke her knee in the escape, but her boyfriend, Raymond Green, was killed. Fierro the symbol of another America. He and his wife own the first Hispanic-operated brewery in Colorado Spring. In a city of half a million known for churches that condemn homosexuality, the slogan of the company, which goes by the name of Atrevida (bold), is: Diversity, on tap!