Shooting at Colorado LGBTQ nightclub: ‘Hero’ Army veteran Richard Fierro who arrested alleged shooter says he feels ‘no joy’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — A US Army veteran who stopped a suspected gunman from killing more people after he allegedly killed five people at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub says he’s no hero and mourns those who died, including including her daughter’s boyfriend.

“There are five people I couldn’t help, including one who belonged to me,” Richard Fierro said during a press conference outside his home on Monday evening.

“I don’t feel any joy. This guy is still alive… and not my family,” he said, referring to his daughter’s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, who was among those killed in the incident. shooting.

Five people were killed and 17 others were shot and wounded after a suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, allegedly began shooting as soon as he entered Club Q in Colorado Springs on Saturday night, police say. Aldrich faces five counts of murder and five counts of bias-motivated felony causing bodily harm, which is Colorado hate crime law.

Watch Colorado Governor Jared Polis discuss the fatal LGBTQ nightclub shooting today on “The View.”

Fierro and another person, Thomas James — who authorities have both described as heroes — confronted Aldrich and fought with him, ultimately saving more lives, police said.

Fierro told reporters that he and his family were at Club Q to watch his daughter’s junior prom perform in the drag show that night.

He said he snatched the suspect’s gun from him and began “crying” over him and beating him while telling a passerby to remove the gun the suspect was using. The suspect used a legally purchased assault rifle, according to officials briefed on the investigation.

“I told him I was going to kill him,” Fierro said. He had a flirt kick the suspect, he said, adding that she stomped on the suspect’s face with her high heel.

“I tried to finish it,” Fierro said.

According to the Colorado Springs Police Department and the Mayor’s Office, the suspect was beaten so badly that he remains hospitalized Monday night.

While Fierro may reject the hero tag, others have praised his “heroic actions”.

“Richard was actually able to take a handgun from the size of the suspect and use it to punch, immobilize and incapacitate him,” Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told Linsey Davis on Monday. from ABC News Live Prime. “And in doing so, I am absolutely confident, and I think most people so familiar with this incident are convinced that it saved many lives.”

Fierro said her daughter was injured in the incident and is recovering from her injuries as she mourns Vance.

Fierro was in the U.S. Army for 14 years and served three times in Iraq and once in Afghanistan, said Army spokesman Sgt. Pablo Saez told ABC News.

Fierro said he left the military because he was “physically broken,” but his training in the military began when the shooting began.

“I entered [a] fashion and I needed to save my family,” he said. “It’s the knee jerk. Go to battle. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don’t let anyone get hurt.”

Marilyn Heck, Luis Martinez, Matt Gutman and ABC News’ Nick Kerr contributed to this report.