A US army veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan used his military training to tackle a gunman who killed at least five people in a Colorado gay bar.
Retired major Richard Fierro, of Colorado Springs, told The New York Times that his instincts kicked in when he heard gunfire at Club Q on Saturday.
Mr Fierro, 45, was at the club with family and friends when the shooting started.
“I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode,” he told the Times. “I just know I have to kill this guy before he kills us.”
Mr Fierro, who retired from the military in 2013, said he ran through chaos at the club, then beat the attacker with his own gun until the assailant was subdued and covered in blood.
“I grabbed the gun out of his hand and just started hitting him in the head, over and over,” Mr Fierro said.
The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, faces five murder charges and five charges of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, court records show.
A law enforcement official told AP that the suspect used an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon in Saturday night’s attack, but a handgun and more ammunition magazines were also recovered.
Club Q on its Facebook page thanked the “quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack".
Mr Fierro said that other club-goers helped him, with one man grabbing the attacker's gun and moving it to safety. A dancer used high heels to stamp on the attacker's head.
Mr Fierro said he feared he had killed the attacker, who was still in hospital on Monday.
Questions were being raised about why authorities did not try to take the suspect's guns away from him in 2021, when he was arrested after his mother reported he threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons.
Although authorities at the time said no explosives were found, gun control advocates are asking why police did not try to use Colorado’s “red flag” law, which would have allowed them to seize the weapons his mother says he had.
There was also no public record that prosecutors ever proceeded with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against Mr Aldrich.
Of the 25 injured at Club Q, at least seven were in critical condition, authorities said.
Some were hurt trying to flee, and it was unclear if all of them were shot, police said.
The shooting rekindled memories of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people were killed.
Colorado has had several mass killings, including at Columbine High School in 1999, a cinema in suburban Denver in 2012 and at a Boulder supermarket last year.
Club Q is a gay and lesbian nightclub that features a drag show on Saturdays, its website shows.
Club Q’s Facebook page said planned entertainment included a “punk and alternative show” before a birthday dance party, with a Sunday all-ages drag brunch.
Drag events have become a focus of anti-LGBTQ speech and protests recently as opponents, including politicians, have proposed banning children from them, falsely claiming they are used to “groom” children.
A hate-crime charge against Mr Aldrich requires proving he was motivated by the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
A makeshift memorial sprang up on Sunday near the club, with flowers, a stuffed animal, candles and a sign saying “Love over hate” next to a rainbow-coloured heart.
Colorado Springs, a city of about 480,000 people 110 kilometres south of Denver, is home to the US Air Force Academy and the US Olympic Training Centre, and Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical Christian ministry that lobbies against LGBTQ rights.
The group condemned the shooting and said it “exposes the evil and wickedness inside the human heart".
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THREE
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The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press
ACC 2019: The winners in full
Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia
Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi
Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia
Best Documentary Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki
Best Film Yomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky
Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm
Matches are live on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
UAE WARRIORS RESULTS
Featherweight
Azouz Anwar (EGY) beat Marcelo Pontes (BRA)
TKO round 2
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) beat Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Split points decision
Welterweight
Gimbat Ismailov (RUS) beat Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR)
TKO round 1
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) beat Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Unanimous points decision
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) beat Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
TKO round 1
Catchweight 100kg
Marc Vleiger (NED) beat Mohamed Ali (EGY)
Rear neck choke round 1
Featherweight
James Bishop (NZ) beat Mark Valerio (PHI)
TKO round 2
Welterweight
Abdelghani Saber (EGY) beat Gerson Carvalho (BRA)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) beat Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Unanimous points decision
Bantamweight
Fabio Mello (BRA) beat Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Unanimous points decision
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magomedsultanov (RUS)
TKO round 1
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) beat Jayson Margallo (PHI)
TKO round 3
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) beat Roman Golovinov (UKR)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Submission round 2
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
TKO round 2
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UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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