West Freeway Church of Christ shooting

Last updated
West Freeway Church of Christ shooting
West Freeway Church of Christ shooting
Location1900 S Las Vegas Trail
White Settlement, Texas, U.S.
DateDecember 29, 2019 (2019-12-29)
Attack type
Shooting
Weapons Sawed-off shotgun (12-gauge)
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)
Injured0
PerpetratorKeith Thomas Kinnunen
DefenderJack Wilson [1]

The West Freeway Church of Christ shooting took place on December 29, 2019, in White Settlement, Texas, in the United States. Two people in the congregation were killed before the gunman was fatally shot by 71-year-old Jack Wilson, a volunteer security team member. The attack was live-streamed, as are all services at the church. [2] Video of the shooting appeared online in real time, and was captured, leading to multiple posts on Twitter, YouTube and Rumble with videos showing the shooting and aftermath.

Contents

Shooting

The perpetrator shot and killed two members of the church before he was fatally shot by Jack Wilson, the head of the church's security [3] ending the attack within six seconds. The victims were Anton Wallace, age 64, and Richard White, age 67. [4] Wilson is a firearms instructor and a former reserve deputy sheriff in Hood County, Texas. [5] [1]

The perpetrator, wearing a fake beard and a hat, briefly spoke to Anton Wallace before drawing a shotgun and leveling it. Upon the perpetrator drawing his shotgun, churchgoers Richard White and Jack Wilson both drew their pistols. However, as they were drawing their pistols, the perpetrator opened fire, killing White with a single shot before immediately turning and firing his second shot at Wallace, killing him. The perpetrator then turned to his left, presumably to open fire on the crowd, and was then shot dead by Wilson. [6]

Wilson indicated that five or six other members of the church assembly also drew their own weapons in response to the shooting but only Wilson's weapon was fired. [5] [1]

Perpetrator

The gunman was identified as 43-year old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, of River Oaks, Texas. [7] Upon entering he was wearing a fake beard and wig and immediately raised the suspicions of the security deacons serving the church. [8] Kinnunen had attended multiple services at the church prior. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

In the early morning hours of December 9, 2007, 24-year-old Matthew John Murray opened fire at the Youth With A Mission training center in Arvada, Colorado, killing two and wounding two others before escaping. Later that afternoon, he attacked the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with a number of firearms, killing two more people and injuring three before being shot by Jeanne Assam, a member of the church's safety team. Murray then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Lafayette shooting</span> 2015 mass shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

On July 23, 2015, a mass shooting occurred at the Grand 16 movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. John Russell Houser, 59, opened fire during a showing of the film Trainwreck, killing two people and injuring nine others before committing suicide.

On the morning of August 26, 2015, news reporter Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward, both employees of CBS affiliate WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, United States, were fatally shot while conducting a live television interview near Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta. They were interviewing Vicki Gardner, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, when all three were attacked by a gunman in a mass shooting. Parker, age 24, and Ward, age 27, died at the scene, while Gardner survived.

Live-streamed crime is a phenomenon in which people publicly livestream, criminal acts on social media platforms such as Twitch or Facebook Live.

A mass shooting occurred on September 24, 2017, when a gunman opened fire at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, part of the Greater Nashville area, killing one person and injuring six others.

On November 5, 2017, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a local man, Devin Kelley, shot and killed 26 people and wounded 22 others. Kelley was shot and wounded by another local resident, then killed himself after a car chase. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history and the deadliest at an American place of worship, surpassing the Charleston church shooting of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Jemel Roberson</span> Police killing in Robbins, Illinois, United States

On November 11, 2018, Jemel Roberson, a 26-year-old security guard for Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois, was fatally shot by Ian Covey, a Midlothian police officer responding to a call of shots fired at the bar. Roberson, an African American, was working for the bar as a security guard when four people were shot by a gunman. After Roberson subdued and pinned the shooter to the ground, he was shot by a Midlothian police officer arriving at the scene.

On February 15, 2019, a mass shooting took place at Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Six people died, including the perpetrator, 45-year-old former employee Gary Montez Martin, who was shot and killed by responding police officers. Six others were injured, including five police officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poway synagogue shooting</span> Mass shooting in Poway, California

The Poway synagogue shooting occurred on April 27, 2019, at Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California, United States, a city approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of San Diego, on the last day of the Jewish Passover holiday, which fell on a Shabbat. Armed with an AR-15 style rifle, the gunman, John Earnest, fatally shot one woman and injured three other persons, including the synagogue's rabbi. After fleeing the scene, Earnest phoned 9-1-1 and reported the shooting. He was apprehended in his car approximately two miles (3.2 km) from the synagogue by a San Diego police officer. A month before the shooting, Earnest had attempted to burn down a mosque in Escondido.

On May 31, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a municipal building in the Princess Anne area of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The gunman, DeWayne Craddock, who was a disgruntled city employee, fatally shot 12 people and wounded four others before he was killed by responding police officers. It is the second-deadliest workplace shooting in U.S. history after the 1986 Edmond post office shooting and the deadliest mass shooting in Virginia since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting</span> Mass shooting in Gilroy, California

On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California. The gunman killed three people and wounded 17 others before killing himself after a shootout with responding police officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Dayton shooting</span> Mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio

On August 4, 2019, 24-year-old Connor Betts shot and killed nine people, including his sister, and wounded 17 others near the entrance of the Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio. Betts was fatally shot by responding police officers 32 seconds after the first shots were fired. A total of 27 people were taken to area hospitals. It is the deadliest mass shooting to occur in Ohio since the 1975 Easter Sunday Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland–Odessa shootings</span> Spree shooting in Midland and Odessa, Texas

On August 31, 2019, a spree shooting occurred in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa, involving a gunman shooting multiple people from a vehicle. Eight people were killed, including the perpetrator, and twenty-five people were injured, including three police officers. It was the third major mass shooting to take place in the United States in August 2019, following the El Paso Walmart shooting and the Dayton shooting.

On October 24, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in the Southwest Garden section of St. Louis, Missouri, United States when a 19-year-old former student open fired on students and staff killing two and injuring seven before being fatally shot by police.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Armed parishioner says he's 'no hero,' as new details emerge about the Texas church shooter". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. Levenson, Eric; Toropin, Konstantin; Vera, Amir (30 December 2019). "Texas pastor says he knew and helped the gunman before the shooting". CNN.
  3. Sakmari, Elvira; Heinz • •, Frank (30 December 2019). "Church's Head of Security Says He 'Killed an Evil,' Not a Human in Taking Down Gunman". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  4. "Police: Parishioners kill man who fatally shoots 2 at church". Associated Press . December 30, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Church's Head of Security Says He 'Killed an Evil,' Not a Human in Taking Down Gunman". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. "BREAKING: Video shows gunman open fire at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas before being shot dead by armed security; the service was being live-streamed on YouTube" . Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  7. Gordon, Scott (December 30, 2019). "'We Knew He Was Crazy, But Not Like This,' Ex-Wife of Church Gunman Says". NBC.
  8. "Texas church shooter wore suspicious wig and fake beard, says security head who shot him | National Post". National Post. December 31, 2019.
  9. "Armed parishioner says he's 'no hero,' as new details emerge about the Texas church shooter". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-12-09.