Colorado Springs shooting: Army veteran who disarmed shooter said he went into combat mode when shots rang out

A U.S. Army veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan said he automatically went into combat mode to protect his family and friends when a gunman began to open fire inside a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs.

Richard Fierro has been hailed a hero by police for saving lives at Club Q on Saturday night, when Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, allegedly carried out a mass shooting that left five dead and at least 25 wounded. Aldrich, who brought multiple firearms inside the property, including an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, according to The Associated Press, is now facing murder and hate crime charges. 

"I’ll be honest, it was [Army] training," Fierro told Fox News on Tuesday. "I’m not any better than anyone else. There are better soldiers, better officers, there's better everything. I just reacted to help people and I reacted to really just take care of my family and I think that’s what every dad or every person wants to happen."

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Fierro was at the nightclub with his wife, his daughter Kassy, her boyfriend and several other friends to celebrate the birthday of Kassy's childhood friend who was performing in the drag show that night.  He described having an enjoyable night before shots rang out – one of which fatally struck Kassy’s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance.

"We were out having a great time. beautiful place, beautiful people, and it was fun until this guy decided to turn our dream into a nightmare," Fierro said on "America Reports."

Fierro said he initially got down on the ground to avoid any potential incoming fire, but when he saw an opening to disarm the shooter, he took it, charging toward the attacker while yanking him down. Fierro said he yelled at another patron, James, to move the rifle out of reach.

As the shooter was pinned under a barrage of punches from Fierro and kicks to the head from James, he tried to reach for his pistol. Fierro grabbed it and used it as a bludgeon. 

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"It ended up in my hands and I felt like I was fighting him for it and I used it to hit him. I would have used anything in the room. A chair, table, whatever I could do to keep this guy from getting up. I think the most important thing is that you protect those around you at all times," he said.

At that moment, Fierro said he considered everyone in the room his "family."

"You have to protect everybody around you. At that point, everybody in the room was family to me," he recalled.

Fierro's wife, Jess, said via Facebook that her husband had bruised his right side and injured his hands, knees and ankle. "He was covered in blood," she wrote on the page of their brewery, Atrevida Beer Co. 

Police identified the victims as Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, 35; and Raymond Green, 22.

Fierro said Raymond had been with his daughter for six years and was considered part of the family.

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"We lost Raymond, and he was part of our family, he was my daughter’s boyfriend, and Raymond was a great young man, he was playing football, just finished high school, trying to figure out how he was going to make it in this world. He was debating whether he wanted to join the military and he took care of my daughter." Fierro said.

"Nobody gives their daughter, trusts a man with their daughter unless they respect him. And Raymond had earned that from me, and I loved him," he said. "We took him in and for six years he was part of our family."

Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.