By the Associated Press
A man pulled out a shotgun at a Texas church service and fired on worshippers Sunday, killing two people before he was shot to death by congregants who fired back, police said.
Authorities at a Sunday evening news conference praised the two congregants who opened fire as part of a volunteer security team at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement. It was unclear if the two people who were killed were 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 Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also hailed the state’s gun laws.
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 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 the church’s security team then “eliminated the threat.”
Officials have not released the names of the victims or the gunman. FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said they’re 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 but declined to give details.
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,” he said.
Tinius said he didn’t 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 the AP 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.
Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state to pray for the victims, their loved ones and the community of White Settlement, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) 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 said in a tweeted statement.
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 worshippers, before taking his own life. And in 1999, a gunman killed seven people in Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth before detonating an explosive device and killing himself.
Armed citizens as the founders intended and recorded/codified in the 2 nd. amendment.
Sheepdogs.
Respect.
🤠
Citizens are responsible for their own self-defense. The police are not legally responsible for our safety, and SCOTUS has affirmed that. They never could assure our safety, even if a police officer accompanied every citizen as an armed guard 24/7. Therefore, the government is a criminal accessory before the fact if it disarms citizens by infringing on our rights in any way, from banning any class of arms, to requiring permits or licenses or prohibitive taxes to be paid before “granting permission” to exert our right to keep and bear arms. SCOTUS needs to remind state and federal governments what “shall not be infringed” means.
When seconds count….police are only minutes away.
Or quite a bit more if you happen to be in an Orlando nightclub or a Parkland high school
I would love to see the face of any gun nut when it has to dial 911……………and NO ONE answers.
Exactly. Which is one reason we Americans are still armed despite determined powerful enemies within our country working against us.
Don’t forget ……..LEXINGTON and CONCORD………….
Poor job of reporting. Devin Patrick Kelley was RUN OFF from the church and pursued by an armed CIVILIAN neighbor of the church before he crashed and suicided.
It’s intentional. And much more tragic since no one inside that church was armed.
That church did have a security team. Sadly two of the three were late getting to church. The third was ill at home.
Also before being run off, he was force-fed two bullets by the hero, which was probably instrumental in the murderer fleeing in the first place.
Watch the live feed video. The gunman didn’t run anywhere. He was dropped instantly by a pistol shot to the head.
Not the same story, he is talking about the Neighbor with the ar-15 happened a year or so ago.
Joe is probably young……so we can forgive him…….THIS TIME.
Devin Patrick Kelley was from an incident in 2017 and NOT this one from 2019. The reporting is accurate.
What happened to not naming the scumbags?
Why should they censor facts? Simply because many in our society are morally bankrupt doesn’t mean that facts should be covered up. The attacker was an evil coward and that is what their name represents.
It should be…but that’s not the way it actually works. Unfortunately, the 24/7 media circus turns these fecal stains into instant celebrities. World famous, even.
These things are effectively random, but the one statistically significant correlation between them is that the murderers are highly aware of the media fame accorded to their predecessors; they often track names and kill counts and fantasize about the infamy they’ll achieve.
The best thing we could possibly do is to unperson all of these goblins and laugh at their many failures. (Meanwhile the “progressive” media machine continues to do exactly the opposite; it’s almost like they *want* these shootings to happen.)
lng:
That is EXACTLY what the Left wants….notoriety for the villains….as incentive for more incidents….so their disarmament arguments seemingly bear more weight….even though they lack even a shred of logic.
REMEMBER: those who wish to disarm you know they are guilty of doing something…..or plan to be….for which they should be shot.
“What happened to not naming the scumbags?”
Some departments have policy of waiting for next-of-kin to be notified, or waiting 24 hours to name fatalities.
We’ll get the names soon…
https://youtu.be/s5NzuGSkL2E
For those that do not have a YouTube account and want to see the video, There is an add-on for Firefox called “Ageless”, find and install, you can see all videos without signing in.
That scene doesn’t get easier to see when zoomed-in like John did…
The government did not allow you to defend yourself God did/does, the Second Amendment simply recognizes that this right has always existed. I know what he was trying to say, thanking the TX state government on changing the law allowing concealed permit holders to carry in places of worship, but that is something they should have been doing regardless of whether the state allowed it or not.
“… should have been doing regardless of whether the state allowed it or not.”
Of course, many ignore those little signs (I somehow didn’t notice a couple signs today), and I know in TX those signs carry force-of-law. Many carry in forbidden locations whether or not signs are involved. Why? Because their lives are more important than the law. But because of the law, capable folks who carry anyway may be more likely to retreat rather than engage. I used to live in CA and trust me, there are teachers at all levels of education who carry at great risk to their careers and livelihood despite the laws. It is an egregious violation of morality to deny the right of self-defense, especially when the innocent and helpless ones are under your care. It would be an interesting case if a 6th grade teacher drew her weapon, fired, and stopped the threat of an active shooter in California.
Ross:
The Magna Carta recognized the right 800 years ago. Also the right to use arms to remove dictatorial government.
Sad. The STATE has given us the opportunity to defend ourselves.
Should be …. the state recognizes citizen’s right to protect themselves.
Bad situation … but it most certainly would have been a whole lot worse without the armed congregants.
Sobering to watch the video and see how few people were aware of the situation.
Reminds me of the modern parable of the preacher and a flood. God helps those who help themselves.
Anyone who has read the Septuagint, religious or not, should understand the lessons explicit.
“God helps those who help themselves” is a sign for an all-you-can-eat buffet, but it’s not found in Scripture – anywhere. Sorry to rain on that parade!
However, one must understand the threats we face, and fully prepare for the worst-case scenario of this example in TX. Obviously a deranged man who didn’t get the “don’t mess with Texas!”
A further word on preparation – it’s really hard to tell from the video, but two or three things stand out – 1. The assumed security guys that initially engaged the shooter are heroes – and paid the ultimate price, but allowed the final security guy to get a clean shot. 2. The first two looked like they were trying to get to their concealed weapon, but were too slow. PRACTICE!! 3. The successful shooter may have been a LEO – again, hard to tell, but I see no draw from concealment moves, looks like a uniform, and 4. man, what an example of training – calm, straight-forward presentation, one shot, must have either been a head shot or through the spinal cord, cuz the shooter folded like wet tissue paper.
You missed the point. “God helps those who help themselves” isn’t the text, it’s the *meaning* of it. This incident, as the rest of your comment correctly notes, is a perfect example of it.
He is a retired FBI officer
Democrats and liberals rather have more death than support armed security.
It helps with their ultimate agenda.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13
Godspeed sheep dogs.
God helps those who help themselves couldn’t be a truer statement. There are those in society and in the political scene who want us to go like sheep to the slaughter, giving up our weapons, so we would be at the mercy of a government who wants to dictate over us. Not gonna happen here.
Amen Brother AMEN..
While it may be a good way to self-motivate, as MK noted above, “God helps those who help themselves” has no basis in scripture whatsoever. Scripture is actually pretty clear that God helps those who are poor, sick, weak and helpless. See, for example, Matthew chapter 5. ” Blessed are the poor in spirit …”
God *blesses* them. And how does his blessing manifest in this world? Think about it. It doesn’t say God magically fixes everything while we watch and clap at the show.
Here’s another scripture for you: “Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.”
So here’s the question: WHAT have you done?
If those in need are going to see any relief in this life, *we* have to provide it. God helps those who help themselves. God helps others through YOU. If what you’ve done is nothing because you think God will provide and therefore you don’t have to lift a finger, then remember God’s words: You have done it to me.
I haven’t been to church in 20 years, and even I know how this works. Get a clue.
At the end of the story is states the shooter of the 2017 shooting took his own life !! BS, his shooting spree was stopped by a neighbor who used an
AR-15 TO STOP THE THREAT !
“The news media are the enemy of the people”
President Donald Trump.
The media proves itself to be nothing but propaganda on a daily basis, by misreporting facts, by omissions, and by editorializing rather than objective reporting. Today’s news is “infotainment” and a sad commentary on the decline of journalism.
Isn’t this an associated press story?
This article seems Patrese arm security team in a positive light, which is the problem with that?
CNN and other main stream media have also run positive articles, reporting that the armEd security team was able to stop the threat immediately.
Shouldn’t we applaud the main stream media when they run articles like these?
to miner49er
Please keep swallowing the “cream” ejaculated from the media when they say the sutherland springs church shooter only stopped shooting church parishioners when he commited suicide. I know it taste very good to you.
I personally enjoy the taste of Liberal tears when they cry that a good civilian with a gun stopped a mass shooting.
No. Nobody gets applause for managing not to fail at an easy job. In the face of an abundance of clarity, the AP *almost* managed to get the facts right…at least the ones they chose to report. Whoop-de-do.
They also did the usual frame-job we’ve come to expect.
By default, people tend to remember the first thing they read and the last more than anything else. So let’s look at what the AP did there.
First paragraph…sticking to the facts; they pretty much have no choice, especially with viral video circulating. The final paragraph, however, they’ve got free rein. The AP would say they brought in this information for historical context…but in rhetorical context, this is where they plant a final message in your brain.
Here’s what they want you to remember about this story: A man killed two people in church before congregants were able to stop him. And Texas is a bad place where *lots* of people get shot at church.
CNN’s article, on the other hand, was a very pleasant surprise. Texas passed a law that was intended to produce this very result — armed citizens saving lives — and it worked. And that’s exactly what CNN conveyed. No misdirection, no . Almost worthy of applause…although, again, that’s just the job they should’ve been doing all along.
““The news media are the enemy of the people”
President Donald Trump.”
Well, he’s right.
Notice the New York Times behavior in reporting this, while nice they reported armed parishioners stopped the slaughter, they conveniently kept the comment section *closed*, the obvious could not be pointer out to the readers…
Is Abbot going to tell the legislature to “consider” more infringements again?
Sad that this gentleman/fellow did not get the attention/interest/help from Christians that he needed so he could have expressed his hurt/pain/anguish to Christians who were willing to listen and help. He, the shooter, must have been so alone, so lonely, so hurt. I pray the Church investigate and make suggestions to the Churches in that town, the Town Government, the Public Mental Health Dept, the Police and Fire Dept as to what can be done to prevent such violence in the future. I am sadden by the loss of the church member and the shooter.
“Sad that this gentleman/fellow did not get the attention/interest/help from Christians that he needed so he could have expressed his hurt/pain/anguish to Christians who were willing to listen and help. He, the shooter, must have been so alone, so lonely, so hurt.”
Uh huh, it’s the Christians’ fault the satanic monster started murdering them.
Help can only be given to those who are open to receiving it.
Can’t blame Christians for some nutjob wanting to rack up a body count; well, you can but anyone with an ounce of sense will see it for what it is, total BS.
What a refreshing change from the usual pacifist pablum spouted by police chiefs and PR flacks that “citizens should not intervene” or “people should call 911” and so on.
Mass Shootings???, Never Bring A Gun To A Bomb Fight
Actually that’s not true. It’s a very good idea to bring a gun to a bomb fight. Because people wearing bomb vest have been shot dead before they managed to set their bomb off.
Curiously, this incident in which you can see a half-dozen or more people drawing guns in defense did not result in a bloodbath. No friendly fire. No confusion over who the bad guy was. The first man to draw his gun did die, unfortunately, but the fact that a second was able to finish the job of taking out the threat speaks loudly. And if he failed, there was a third, a fourth, and so on.
This monster may have been looking for defenseless lambs but there were some among the flock that were willing to step up. Enough that there was no chance of him doing what the killer in NZ was able to do easily. In the Christchurch shootings he ran out of victims, returning to pump more bullets into piles of bodies. Quite a difference.
Hannibal,
Events played out at this Texas church exactly as I predicted more than 12 months ago in an informal “white paper” that I created for my church.
As I predicted:
(1) Armed defenders did not shoot bystanders or other armed defenders.
(2) Police did not shoot armed defenders because the event was all over long before police arrived.
(3) The attacker initially focused his attention on an armed defender rather than the congregation which saved lives.
(4) The attacker then ignored additional armed defenders which enabled those armed defender/s to promptly incapacitate the attacker.
This should be the final nail in the coffin (no pun intended) of anyone’s argument that we are better off without rather than with armed volunteer church members.
“This should be the final nail in the coffin (no pun intended) of anyone’s argument that we are better off without rather than with armed volunteer church members.”
Or lawful armed members of the public going about their day…
6 seconds and it was over. In the vid you can see at least 5 to 6 armed parishioners running to the front of the church from all sides.
Not mentioned one wit by any news outlets of mass media yet.
But they do mention cops were there in a minute or so.
54 seconds can be an eternity when firing a shotgun.
If the story doesn’t fit their point of view. They wont air it.
Disgusting.
I read this in the comments section from another news site this morning.
“I just don’t think you can be a ‘good guy’ AND carry a gun. Doesn’t that mean you’re okay with killing people?”
That’s how the typical anti thinks, in a nutshell. It’s the very core of their beliefs. No matter what you reply to them, they will not change their mind. They will only drag you farther down into the muck and mire of their beliefs. Just walk away.
Gunny Gene,
You observed the fact that gun-grabbers do not apply facts, truth, nor reasoning. Rather, emotion and capricious notions of virtue drive their positions.
Erroneous virtue, in this case, as one finds in “Backside World”…
“I read this in the comments section from another news site this morning.
‘“I just don’t think you can be a ‘good guy’ AND carry a gun. Doesn’t that mean you’re okay with killing people?”’
That’s how the typical anti thinks, in a nutshell. It’s the very core of their beliefs. No matter what you reply to them, they will not change their mind.”
That person was lying. Leftists are plenty okay with people killing people, as long as it is the “correct” people. Think of the liberal journalist Tom Brokaw and his coining of the phrase THE GREATEST GENERATION; the Greatest Generation that is so honored killed lots fascists.
The person you quoted is a typical, lying gun grabber. He only typed those words to attack gun owners.
Now if it would only happen in NY! Oh, that’s right, it’s illegal to save your own life in the “apple”.
Headline at DISRN>COM:
Minister after Texas church shooting: “I’m thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves”
What’s wrong with this statement.
He’s stressed out, in mourning, couple of his friends just died, he can be forgiven a screw-up in front of all those TV cameras. Give the poor guy a break.
But later, some quiet conversation over a few beers is certainly in order.
“some quiet conversation over a few beers”
I like the idea of a pastor having a few beers, after all turning the water to wine was Jesus’s first recorded miracle.
A better wording of that statement would be:
“I AM THANKFUL. THAT THE FEDERRAL GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE OF TEXAS HAVE NOT BVEEN TOTALLY SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR UNTELENTING EFFORTS TO DEPRIVE LAW ABIDING CITIZENS OF THE MEANS TO EXERCISE THEIR GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/30/us/guns-legal-texas-church/index.html
Armed parishioners saved ‘untold number of lives.’ This law made it legal to have guns in church
Hollie Silverman
By Hollie Silverman, CNN
Updated 2:32 AM ET, Mon December 30, 2019
(CNN) A shooter at a church in White Settlement, Texas, was taken down by parishioners with guns seconds after he began firing Sunday.
Those parishioners, who were also volunteer members of the church’s security team, are able to carry guns into church due to a law passed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in response to another deadly church shooting that took the lives of 26 people in 2017.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick referred to the law during a Sunday night press conference, saying that it was passed following the deadly shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. It took effect in September, Patrick said.
Senate Bill 535 took effect in September and clarifies possession of firearms at places of worship. The bill allows licensed handgun owners to legally carry their weapons in churches, synagogues and other houses of worship.
The pastor is wrong. The government does not give permission for anyone to defend themselves.
However if any gun Grabber, any liberal, any socialist Progressive wants to run with that argument. That you as an American citizen must ask permission of the government first to defend your life, then go ahead.
Make that argument. Go tell parents that they need permission to defend the lives of their children to keep them from being murdered. To keep them from being raped or being kidnapped never to be seen again.
Go make the argument that children need government permission to learn about firearms safety and Firearms Marksmanship. Go tell homosexuals that they need permission from the government to defend themselves. Go tell the old, or people living by themselves that they need permission from the government to defend themselves first.
Go ahead gun grabbers make that argument that you need to seek permission from the government before you can defend your life and your loved ones.
You can even use the pastor’s own words on video tape if you want to. Go ahead make that argument.
If this attempted mass shooting had occurred in Yamhill County Oregon, Judge Ladd Wiles would eagerly convict the armed parishoners of murder because everyone knows that a shotgun is not a dangerous weapon.
Sorry for the somewhat cryptic sarcasm. Judge Wiles gave my marijuana bootlegging tenant a free pass for firing two rounds from a 12 gauge shotgun at my son in retaliation for our efforts to evict him. Judge Wiles brings to his courtroom the same profound discernment that enabled him to remain oblivious to his wife’s prolonged and spectacularly flagrant adulteries until she got herself arrested for stalking her boyfriend at the US Atorney’s office.
Nobody cares.
I do and more should.
It seems there is are serious problems in Oregon with Judges and government prosecutors. But because its about sex (Adultery) the Libertarians Liberals and the Left will say its just “sex between consenting adults”.
“Fatal Attraction Fallout
U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall’s flameout amid the Kitzhaber investigation could sully the image of her patron, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.”
https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-24261-fatal-attraction-fallout.html
“But because its about sex (Adultery) the Libertarians Liberals and the Left will say its just “sex between consenting adults”.
Are you speaking of President Donald Trump‘s three different adulterous affairs? Including screwing the porn star and a playboy bunny, then paying them off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money?
Hush money that was listed as a ‘business expense’ on president Donald Trump’s taxes, perpetrating a fraud and costing US taxpayers money?
I don’t think it was the liberals who approved of serial adulterer Donald Trump, I believe that was the right wing Republicans, yes?
Or have you conveniently forgotten about the facts because they interfere with your opinions?
Bring up Trump and ignore clinton and his blue dress. Seems like bigotry is on both sides of the divide.
@Miner49er, are you trying to compare his time before his presidency, or is that comment about something else only you know of? Bill Clinton did his deed while in office, in the White House, and was impeached because he lied about it. I guess that you are not a very good christian, as you can not forgive others of their past sins. You you think Jesus will forgive you of your sins?
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matt 6:14-15 KJV
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32KJV
As long as he keeps it out of the White House as President unlike two, possible three previous Democrat presidents, I could care less.
Pro tip, Bill Clinton has been president for 20 years. There is a new president, Donald J Trump, NYC billionaire (he claims).
Yep, Bill Clinton lied under oath about a consensual sexual affair.
But remember how the investigation started as a Arkansas real estate investigation and then over three years morphed into checking up on his marital Fidelity.
It took the Republicans three years to come up with the most tenuous of excuses for impeachment.
It is interesting, now that Republicans are claiming that character doesn’t count in our leaders. That’s a new one, so much for personal responsibility.
And of course, the Republicans completely ignore the fact that Donald J Trump ordered federal election violations when he conspired with his personal attorney Michael Cohen to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money to the whores he’s been screwing just before the election in 2016.
The money came from the Trump corporation and was fraudulently described as ‘business expenses‘, another felony violation of federal law.
The only thing saving Trump from being indicted is a Nixon-era DOJ opinion that has never been scrutinized by the court.
Speaking of Republican morals, are you folks celebrating Republican governor Matt Bevin pardoning the man who raped a nine-year-old girl, because as Matt Bevin says “her hymen wasn’t broken.”?
Now there’s a Republican politician with a fine set of morals, wouldn’t you agree?
Not celebrating morals. Just pointing out your double standards, again, miner.
It’s inspiring when we hear actions like these. A gun carrying supporter.
Prayers for. All involved! ❤️🙏💕🇺🇸🙏🏿
Never saw or read so much misinformation. The church shooter was taken out by ONE man, not two! And, the hero was an expert PISTOl shooter. One shot, with a pistol, at 50 feet, ended the possible carnage.
The man who killed the scum with the shotgun was part of the church’s security team.
This experienced firearms instrucrtor with a gun was a blesing who saved an untold number of lives, along with all the others I saw in the video moving forward toward the danger with their guns drawn. Very sad that two good lives were lost but not a bad thing the shooter does on the spot.
This proves that all the bull shit from the democrats about innocent people being shot by the good guys with guns didn’t happen. No innocent people were shot by any of the church goers with guns.
As a firearms instructor myself in my younger days, I know that this guy is a better shot than the average gun owner and most cops too. If you are going to carry you need to practice often and need to have someone induce stress on you while training. Stress can change you good score to a bad score unless you learn how to control it in a bad situation.
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