Three people including the assailant are dead after a shooter opened fire during Sunday morning service at a church near Fort Worth, Texas. The gunman was killed by an armed church member.
The attack took place at West Freeway Church of Christ in the city of White Settlement.
The incident was captured on video as West Freeway Church of Christ live streams its services on YouTube. Two images from the video of the shooting were snapped before the video was disabled:
A witness told CBS 11 News that the shooter walked up to a server during communion with a shotgun and opened fire before being shot and neutralized by a church member who is part of the church’s security team.
Video footage showed what appears to be a man in a dark overcoat shooting two people and then getting shot as he tried turning his weapon at the crowd.
The video of the shooting, reviewed by Disrn, appears to confirm these reports. The shooter brandished a long gun — what seemed by the sound and recoil produced by the discharges to be a shotgun — for several seconds before firing. The assailant appeared to fire at two men standing in the back of the church as they reached for weapons. The shooter fired twice, hitting both men once each, before he was dropped by a single shot from another standing man. From the first shot to the last took approximately 2.5 seconds.
A heavily edited version of the video can be viewed below:
According to WFAA:
A live stream of the worship service shows a person wearing a large coat stand up and then pull out what appears to be a rifle or a shotgun as communion was finishing. The shooter appears to fire twice before another person appears to shoot back.
Many people in the congregation ducked under church pews while others rushed toward the shooter, holding up handguns, the video shows.
A new Texas law allowing worshipers to carry guns in religious locations went in to effect just months before the shooting.
A reporter who viewed the video of the shooting described it on Twitter:
***BREAKING***
— Matt Howerton (@HowertonNews) December 29, 2019
At least two killed and one in critical condition after shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement.
Everything was captured on the church’s livestream.
The gunman was sitting in the back of the church and took out a shotgun during communion…
A spokesman for the White Settlement Fire Department and Police Department made a statement after the shooting:
The shooter is dead, one victim is dead and another victim has been transported to the hospital, @FOX4 has learned. The ages between the three range from 30-60 years old. Multiple agencies responding to the scene.
— David Sentendrey (@DavidSFOX4) December 29, 2019
