Opinion
Texas – -(AmmoLand.com)- What could have been a much worse tragedy inside a White Settlement, Texas church Sunday was quickly stopped by good guys with guns, who not only fatally shot the gunman but got quick support from several other armed church members, as seen by examination of the streamed video, which has since been taken down.
The shooting incident left three people dead, including the shotgun-wielding killer. NBC News said two members of the congregation died at the hospital.
By watching the 51-second video that streaked across social media, one could count at least six other members of the congregation who appear to have drawn sidearms, including one woman. All carefully moved in to cover the downed gunman, while taking care to move bystanders out of the way and not cover one another with their guns. The parishioner who clearly fired the shot has been identified as Jack Wilson, president of On Target LTC, LLC and a candidate for public office. He went on Facebook hours after the incident to tell his story.
According to Fox News, two church members shot the gunman although in the video it appears only one parishioner fired. There were three audible gunshots on the video. Other members of the congregation were diving for cover as the shots were fired over the course of four to six seconds, as shown in the 51-second video of the incident that has been circulated online. Two other people were reportedly injured in the chaos while ducking for cover, but they were treated and released.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the killer’s actions in a statement.
“I am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life,” the governor said. “Cecilia and I ask all Texans to join us in praying for the White Settlement community and for all those affected by this horrible tragedy.”
Statement on shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement: pic.twitter.com/Crrrvavvs6
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) December 29, 2019
The shooting occurred at the West Freeway Church of Christ.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Jeoff Williams, regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, praised the actions of the armed citizens. His agency will lead the investigation.
“I would like to point out that we have a couple of heroic parishioners who…saved countless lives,” he told reporters. “Our hearts are going out to them and their families as well.”
The video is graphic, and the Dallas Morning News said it was quickly removed by the church but not before it was viewed by an unknown number of people. The video showed the gunman, wearing what appears to be a hooded jacket, get up from a rear pew, approach one man in the rear corner of the sanctuary and apparently ask a question before pulling what appears to be a shotgun from under his coat.
At that point, a man seated at the rear of the sanctuary, stands up and appears to have a bit of trouble drawing a concealed handgun. He is the first person shot by the gunman, who then turned his gun on the first man he spoke to.
The gunman then turns and moves down a wall-side aisle. A second armed church goer can be seen at the upper left of the video drawing and firing, and the gunman immediately dropped to the floor as other armed parishioners closed in.
Shockingly, former Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke rushed to exploit the tragedy, “So saddened to hear about another church shooting in Texas, this one in White Settlement near Fort Worth. Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working.”
So saddened to hear about another church shooting in Texas, this one in White Settlement near Fort Worth. Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working. https://t.co/krwcpL1lih
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) December 29, 2019
O’Rourke’s presidential run crashed shortly after he declared during a Democratic debate in August, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”
However, there did not appear to be any immediate reactions from gun control organizations. The gun prohibition lobby is routinely silent following an incident in which armed citizens intervene.
However, Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, was not so tongue-tied.
“The fact that so many other church members were also armed, and did not open fire, demonstrates how responsibly armed citizens can perform in an emergency,” Gottlieb said. “The video belies the oft-repeated myth that armed citizens are irresponsible and even dangerous to one another, which is something we address in ‘Good Guys With Guns’.”
“We don’t know what motivates someone to open fire on a peaceful church congregation,” Gottlieb said. “But thanks to the video, we know what stops them.”
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Obviously an effective group response. My respect to those church members who acted so quickly and appropriately in defense of the congregation.
@TexasJD
Indeed. The new universal question to all future such situations will be WWJWD? (What would Jack Wilson Do?)
@Buster – Jack Wilson says he is not a hero. Lets offer higher praise by referring to him as a typical texas gun nut. Media spins this with he’s an instructor and former law-enforcement, ignoring that his law-enforcement “career” was a voluntary position many “gun nuts” use to gain LEOSA protection for legal gun ownership. One can only imagine being an FFL, running a gun shop and being an instructor were all driven by his interest in firearms – after all work should suit one’s interest. Left portrays “gun nuts” as driven by fear or desires for violence, which is… Read more »
We have the mandate and right to keep and bear arms. If you don’t already carry 24/7 you have one more event for a good reason. The detail spotted the guy before hand but, at least one of them reacted too slow and he lost his life. This stuff goes sideways very fast. The whole thing from pulling the shotgun to bad guy down was about 6 seconds. Guess who the actual first responder was? Wasn’t the cops. You can bet, it someone had not stopped the bad guy, there would have been many more dead. If you don’t go… Read more »
The young man reacted FAR too slowly to the dude causing issues, he should have already had his pistol in hand out of sight and at first sight of the shotgun,nailed the perp.BUT He didn’t.
Condition ORANGE all the time now folks NEVER LEAVE Home without being armed, and never arm unless you have to KNOW HOW to be proficient.
ALSO: IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, NY IS HIRING UN TROOPS FOR DISARMAMENT DUTY IN NY, HOW THEY CAN DO THIS LEGALLY S BEYOND ME,BUT THAT’S THE NEWS.
YOUTUBE: GUNSandDGADGET.COM HAS THE INFO.
@Doszap – maybe you have the advantage of years to refer to the poor man as “young” – but few others consider 62 to be young. The second man shot was only in his 40s, he was not armed and doubt he could have changed the outcome if he had been. For me, whether I’d refer to someone in their 40s as young is contextually dependent. It is a terribly young age at which to lose one’s life, particularly in such a senseless manner – in that light, guess 62 can also be considered young.
So the initial reports is that the perp is paranoid and is battling demons.
Just wait for the Red-Flag advocates to exploit that.
I would be nice if the gun haters in Virginia would learn what actually works and stand down from their gun ban crusade.
It is easier for lefties to repeat history rather than learn from it or anything else, their agenda doesn’t allow them to think for themselves. One has to wonder who was thinking for this shooter?
Any politician who proposes, supports, votes for or signs a bill that disarms or infringes on the right to bear arms must be charged as a criminal accessory before the fact, willfully transforming citizens into defenseless victims, thus aiding and supporting criminal activity.
6 seconds. That’s all it took.
END GUN FREE ZONES NOW!!!
Gun free zones are like shooting fish in a barrel. This time that barrel was full of pirahanas!
Meh, let them pat themselves on the back. When a dog does a good trick you give them a cookie. If we keep the praise and treats coming hopefully we will be the tails wagging that dog.
Regardless of what a law or a church may say, if you do not carry concealed, do not be surprised when you are a helpless victim.
ALL ‘gun control laws’ and restrictions are unconstitutional.
Two Points:
1st. Gov. Greg Abbott’s statement should have said “I pray all eligible Americans get trained and armed.”
2nd. To Bobby Francis, Hell yes it’s not working, you’re gun grabbing schemes are costing American lives. Not that you care about that. It seems you are only concerned about the lives of folks who are her ILLEGALLY!
Bozo the Clown opens his mouth and puts his foot in it… again. Does this clown even go to church or does he believe he is better than God? He certainly believes he’s better than most Americans. Actually, he’s pretty disgusting (and totally useless).
????? Who is Bozo the clown?
@Deplorable Bill I took it to mean Bloomberg, or as I refer to him Bloomingidiot.
Correct. Nearly all mass shooters and mass killers have been democrats brought to a killing frenzy by the hate-spewing news media.
Next time you congressman or mayor or governor, legislator, president or enforcement person says you have no reason to be armed, this would be another good thing to bring up as an example. The right and mandate to be armed comes from Scripture, from the LORD HIMSELF, there is no higher authority. These days, if you don’t carry 24/7, you are taking chances with lives. Common sense dictated the need to carry. SCRIPTURE, along with the 2A, gives us the right and mandate to be armed. Even if you have to be civically disobedient to carry, bullets are cheaper than… Read more »
To use this tragedy, as Beto & Bloomberg already have, to push their anti-gun agenda … a situation in which the law-abiding concealed carrying men and women of this church behaved exactly how they should have … just proves that the 2nd Amendment haters are brainless. This killer was a convicted felon and, if the already existing laws were effective, should not have been able to get his hands on a firearm of any kind. Gun laws, background checks, red flag laws … none of these stopped him, nor will they stop any such evil-intentioned person in the future. On… Read more »
There will a few of the members here that will be along shortly to correct you on whether he should have been able to have a firearm. Any minute now.
The pastor, Britt Farmer said “I am so thankful our government allowed us to be armed to protect ourselves”. I take it the pastor is ignorant of the powers of the American People and the fact that the government IS NOT our master and has NO authority to grant or deny Rights. So many Americans believe city, state and federal governments are our masters. Disgusting. I noticed we do not know if this shooter is white or otherwise. Can’t tell from the video. He looks black in the video. Just pleased he is dead, whatever color he turns out to… Read more »
The gunman has been identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43, who has a criminal background in at least three states. He was a white male, apparently wearing a fake beard at the time of the attack.
Thanks for reading.
@ttj – Would you have preferred he said “so thankful we are in Texas where the government does not try to trample our right to protect ourselves”? Kind of extrapolating from bits of info – but I think he was a semihomeless man with obvious mental health issues. It is clear from his actions that he was more than mildly crazy – no one in their right mind would commit such atrocities! One has to wonder whether he thought he would be leaving the church alive – can think of no other rational reason for why he was wearing a… Read more »
Well that’s inconvenient, an armed response to a sicko with a gun. This has to be the norm so these perps can’t second guess who’s armed or not. A polite society is safer when criminals don’t know who’s armed.
The feel good its so cruel Libtards closed all the Mental Institutions in the 70’s & 80’s so where did the 100 million go?
Democrat party! We have tons on mental people on the streets! I meet many of them everyday screaming & mad all the time throwing things & slamming doors!
The leftist on CNN & others talked about racism & the Jewish attack being trumps fault even though he has never said anything bad about Jews etc…BTW if casual speech or tweets makes u go out & kill people u have severe issues!
Jesus said; “they will hate you as they have hated me.” Evil, like the leopard, never changes its spots, and in every day in todays world it is only going to accelerate to its final point in time. That is, full exposure.
Evil is working very hard to get the upper hand in everything for the main purpose of gaining full exposure and control. The left is exposing itself to be a big ally in the quest for prue evil.
That headshot tho BAM DOWN!!!
Here is a piece written by an “anti.” Read it for the opposition research and read the comments to see what other citizens are saying.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/31/columnist-terrifying-parishioners-armed-tx-church/
I’ll give you that one, Robert, gun control isn’t working. Truth from a gun grabber.
I am surprised the communist left media hasn’t reported this story like…Armed citizens stop church shooter. We (the media) learned the “heroes” were pissed at the shooter because they did not get their chance to shoot up the church themselves.
Sadly the first young man killed was not fast enough on getting his piece pulled,he got a 12ga in the chest. 5 other members all came down the one guy had nailed the perp with 3 shots and luckily one his the cranium.Many for could have been murdered there had not there been armed members.
Here is a break down on what happened. A few to do’s & what not to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5NzuGSkL2E&t=30s
Funny none of the media even mention the AHOLES past crime records in various states. He was busted for having a shotgun before when he wasn’t supposed to have one. How about we get rid of liberal judges and start prosecuting as it should be. It just may come to that if VA officials keep playing with fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ST2Wl_7lmA&t=4s