A gunman who opened fire on a Sunday morning church service in Texas was killed after parishioners confronted the gunman and returned fire.
Two churchgoers were killed in the shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in the city of White Settlement near Fort Worth. The shooting comes more than two years after 26 people were killed in an attack at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs outside San Antonio.One person died at the scene of the shooting and one en route to the hospital, the Dallas Morning News said, citing a spokesperson for local emergency services.
Authorities were rushing to the scene at White Settlement, a suburb northwest of Fort Worth, where the West Freeway Church of Christ is located, local media said. The Fort Worth Fire Department issued an “active threat” assignment at around 11.30am (1730 GMT) local time and was assisting operations at the scene, according to reports.
A witness told a local CBS affiliate that a man armed with a shotgun walked up to a server during communion and opened fire, before being shot by a person attending the service.
“You feel like your life is flashing before you. I was so worried about my little one,” witness Isabel Arreola told the network.
Authorities believe the attacker was among the three people shot but it was not known whether he had been killed or injured, CBS 11 reported.
The shooting was captured on video as the church service was apparently being streamed on YouTube, according to the New York Daily News.
Here’s what to know about the shooting.
What happened?
The gunman walked into the church during the Sunday morning service and sat down among the parishioners at around 10:50 a.m., White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering said during a press conference. Suddenly, he stood up, pulled out a shotgun and began to shoot, killing one parishioner.
Parishioners who volunteer for the church’s armed security team confronted him almost immediately and shot the suspect.
“The threat has stopped thanks to the heroic actions of those two parishioners at the church,” Bevering said during the press conference.
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Crime