Ren Kurgis (L) and Jessie Pacheco (R) pay their respects to the victims of the mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 20, 2022. At least five people were killed and 18 wounded in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in the US city of Colorado Springs, police said on November 20, 2022. Photo: VCG

A Colorado man was facing murder and potential hate crime charges on Monday after a shooting rampage at an LGBTQ nightclub, as a US Army veteran recounted how he "went into combat mode" to quickly subdue the gunman.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was arrested following the Saturday night shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and at least 18 injured, officials said.

Currently held without bond in hospital after being overpowered by club patrons, the alleged gunman will make a first court appearance in the next few days, El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen said.

Formal charges have not yet been filed but Aldrich is expected to face first-degree murder charges and "if the evidence supports bias-motivated crimes, we will charge that as well," Allen said.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers praised "two heroes" who helped pin down the gunman after he entered the club and opened fire.

"I think in the opinion of everyone involved, [they] saved a lot of lives," Suthers said.

The mayor said he had spoken to one of the men - Richard Fierro, a 15-year veteran of the US Army, according to The New York Times.

"I have never encountered a person who had engaged in such heroic actions that was so humble about it," Suthers said. "He simply said to me, 'I was trying to protect my family.'"

In an interview with the Times, Fierro said he was at the club with his wife, daughter and friends watching a drag show when the gunfire began.

The 45-year-old Fierro, who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during his military service, said he tackled the gunman by grabbing a handle on the back of his body armor, took his pistol and beat him with it.

"I don't know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode," he said. "I just know I have to kill this guy before he kills us."

"I grabbed the gun out of his hand and just started hitting him in the head, over and over," he told the newspaper.

The attack was the deadliest on the LGBTQ community in the US since a 2016 mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida that claimed 49 lives.

AFP