Suspect in Colorado LGBTQ nightclub massacre charged with murder and hate crimes

Colorado Springs, November 24 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Colorado, the gunman suspected of shooting and killing five people Saturday night at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, has been indicted for murder and hate crimes. 

Officials have identified the five victims as Daniel Davis Aston, a 28-year-old trans man who moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma, two years ago, and worked as a bartender and entertainer at Club Q; Kelly Loving, a 40-year-old trans woman who had recently moved to Denver and whose sister described her as loving, caring and sweet; 38-year-old Derrick Rump, a Club Q bartender described by his mother as “a kind, loving person who had a heart of gold”; 35-year-old Ashley Paugh, who leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter devastated by the loss of her mother; and 22-year-old Raymond Green Vance.

Richard Fierro, a retired military veteran, has been identified as the person who confronted and disarmed the shooter.  Fierro was at Club Q to watch a drag show with his wife, his daughter and Raymond Green Vance, who was his daughter’s boyfriend.

Richard Fierro: “I want those five families to know that’s all I care about.  I want those that are in the hospital right now, get better.  Please get better.  We went out to see a show and have a good time.  And thank God Raymond was smiling, he was dancing with my kid, and my daughter got to spend the last day with him happy.”

Fierro was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four times and said in an interview with The New York Times the experience still haunts him.  He left the U.S. Army in 2013 due to the brutal psychological and physical toll of war, and said he never thought he’d experience the same violence at home.