City Police Chief J.P. Bevering said the shooter entered West Freeway Church of Christ and sat down in the sanctuary, then stood, pulled out a shotgun and shot two parishioners.
“There was a security team inside the church and they eliminated the threat,” Bevering said.
Matthew DeSarno, the FBI agent in charge of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, didn’t identify the shooter, but said he was “relatively transient with roots to this area” and had been arrested multiple times in different municipalities.
The shooter was not on any sort of “watch list,” DeSarno said, but investigators will try to determine whether he was driven by any sort of ideology. Authorities said the motive is unknown, and nobody knows yet whether the shooter targeted the victims.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the incident was over within six seconds thanks to the quick response of the security team members. Recent changes in Texas law allow licensed gun owners to carry firearms into houses of worship.
“Two of the parishioners who are volunteers on the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives,” he said.
The shooter and one of the victims died on the way to the hospital, said Macara Trusty, spokesperson for Medstar Mobile Healthcare. The second victim flatlined, was revived and later died, authorities said.
Authorities have not identified the shooter or victims yet.
A video livestream from the church, seen by CNN, appears to show how the shooting unfolded. The entire incident, from the time the shooter pulled out his gun until he was shot, took six seconds.
Lisa Farmer, the wife of the West Freeway Church of Christ Minister Britt Farmer, was not inside the church at the time of the shooting but said the video shows the inside of the church building.
The video, obtained by CNN affiliate KTVT, shows the shooter seated in a pew toward the rear of the church during the service. The shooter, dressed in dark clothes, approaches someone in the back corner and appears to talk to them. That individual gestures toward the center of the church.
The shooter pulled out a long gun and opened fire on the man before shooting a second man.
It appears that a man, toward the left of the screen, draws a handgun and fires. The shooter falls to the ground immediately. Three muzzle flashes are seen on the video.
The YouTube video has since been made private.
The two people who returned fire against the shooter were members of the church and part of the church’s security team, but were not hired by the church, Regional Director of Texas Department of Public Safety Jeoff Williams told reporters Sunday night.
“The citizens who were inside that church undoubtedly saved 242 other parishioners,” Williams said.
Texas
recently changed its firearms lawsin response to the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting that left 26 people dead.
Lt. Gov. Patrick said the state now allows licensed handgun owners to legally carry weapons into places of worship. Another law allows churches to develop, train and plan for their own teams to provide security
Original Story From: CNN
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