Parishioners of a Texas state church killed an armed man who opened fire on Sunday during a live religious act killing two people, local police reported.
The attacker broke into the West Freeway Church of Christ, in White Settlement, a suburban area of Fort Worth, while the morning service was taking place and killed two people. One of the victims died at the local hospital and another parishioner subsequently.
Two of those present acted to bring down the attacker and prevent the victims from multiplying. "A couple of church members returned the fire and caught up with the suspects, who died at the scene," JP Bevering, White Settlement police chief, who praised the value of the parishioners told reporters.
"At around 1057 local time (1757 GMT), the police and firefighters of White Settlement were warned of gunfire at the West Freeway Church of Christ, Mike Drivdahl, a spokesman for the Fort Worth fire department, told AFP." When they arrived, they found that there had been shooting, "he said. The church regularly transmits its religious services, so the attack, whose motives are still being investigated, was broadcast live on its website.
" Places of worship must be sacred , and I thank the church members who acted quickly to bring down the attacker and helped prevent the loss of more lives," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.
Some 36,000 people die each year in the United States due to gunfire, a figure that includes suicides, homicides, accidents and shootings in which the police participated.
Texas in particular has been the scene of shootings that have shocked public opinion and further agitated the debate over the right, enshrined in the second amendment of the United States Constitution, to bearing arms.
On August 3, a man entered a Walmart store and opened fire using an AK-47 assault rifle in El Paso, Texas. He left a balance of 22 people dead.
On November 5, 2017, a man killed 25 parishioners and wounded another 20 who participated in a Mass at a Baptist church in the rural community of Sutherland Springs, Texas.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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