A man pulled out a shotgun at a Texas church service on Sunday and fired on people, killing two before he was shot to death by congregants who fired back, police said.
Authorities at a news conference praised the two people who opened fire as part of a volunteer security team at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement. It was unclear whether the two people who were killed were among the two who shot at the gunman.
“This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over. Two of the parishioners who were volunteers of the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives,” said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who also hailed the state’s gun laws.
Photo: AP
Britt Farmer, senior minister of the church, said: “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse.”
Authorities said there were more than 240 parishioners in the West Freeway Church at the time of the shooting.
White Settlement Police Department Chief J.P. Bevering said that the gunman had sat down in a pew before getting up, taking out a shotgun and firing at a parishioner, who was killed.
He said that the church’s security team then “eliminated the threat.”
Officials had not released the names of the victims or the gunman.
FBI agent Matthew DeSarno said that they were working to identify the gunman’s motive, adding that he is “relatively transient,” but had roots in the area.
DeSarno also said the gunman had been arrested multiple times in the past.
An elder at the church told the New York Times that one of those killed was a security guard who responded to the shooter, calling him a dear friend.
“He was trying to do what he needed to do to protect the rest of us,” said the elder, Mike Tinius. “It’s extremely upsetting to see anyone committing violence.”
Tinius said he did not know the gunman and that the shooting appeared to be random.
A woman who answered the phone at the West Freeway Church of Christ told reporters that she could not answer any questions and that she was told to direct inquiries to authorities.
In a livestream of the church service, the gunman can be seen getting up from a pew and talking to someone at the back of the church before pulling out a gun and opening fire. Parishioners can then be heard screaming and seen ducking under pews or running as papers fly to the floor.
Two people with minor injuries that were sustained while ducking for cover were treated at the scene, MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokeswoman Macara Trusty said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked the state to pray for the victims, their loved ones and the community of White Settlement, about 12km west of Fort Worth.
“Places of worship are meant to be sacred and I am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life,” Abbott wrote on Twitter.
It is not the first deadly shooting to take place at a church in Texas. In November 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on the congregation at a church in Sutherland Springs, killing more than two dozen people before being confronted by Stephen Willeford, a local resident and former NRA firearms instructor who was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Kelley took his own life.
In 1999, a gunman killed seven people at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth before detonating an explosive device and killing himself.
Sunday’s shooting in Texas was the second attack on a religious gathering in the US in less than 24 hours. On Saturday, a man stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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