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Five people were killed in the attack on an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs on Saturday night.
That there weren't more is mainly due to Rich Fierro.
Rich Fierro, former US soldier:
»I know I just switched to combat mode.
I had to protect my family, and at that moment, everyone in this room was.
That's what I was trained for.
I saw him, went and grabbed him."
Fierro is a former US soldier.
He was with his wife, daughter and friends at Club Q on Saturday night when a 22-year-old man entered the building and shot himself.
Rich Fierro, former US soldier:
'I grabbed him by the collar of his cheap jacket and yanked him to the ground.
A young man who was hiding there jumped up with me.
I don't know if he helped me knock down the attacker or not.
No idea.
He did exactly the same as me - that was great.
I yanked the guy to the ground and pushed him to the side.
I think he reached for his gun, I took it from him and the young man was near his head, I said to him: Put the gun away from him.
And the boy did that.
And then I hit the guy.
I'm on it - and I'm a big guy.
But it was even bigger.
I just kept hitting him and told the guy in front of me: kick him in the head!
And have someone ring 911."
In addition to the five fatalities, there were 18 injured.
According to information from Sunday, some of them were in mortal danger.
In the meantime there was talk of 25 injuries, the number was later corrected.
Fierro himself was briefly mistaken for the perpetrator in the evening and arrested.
After an hour, the misunderstanding was resolved.
Today he quarrels whether he could have done more.
Rich Fierro, former US soldier:
»I tried to save people and for five of them it didn't work.
Five people are not at home right now.
And it's Thanksgiving.
I saw Thanksgiving in Iraq - and we lost men there."
According to his wife, the attack at Fierro brought a trauma from his army days back to the fore.
Meanwhile, Colorado Springs continues to mourn the victims.
There were moving scenes in front of the club.
The attacker is in custody.
The police investigation is still ongoing.
Hatred of homosexuals and transgender people is an obvious motive for many.
The attack happened on Transgender Day.
A motive has not yet been confirmed.
So far, the authorities have not officially classified the case as a hate crime.