UPDATE:
Video still from the West Freeway Church shooting shows armed defender (upper left in tweeted image) shooting at the hooded attacker holding a shotgun (in black, top center):
Video livestream still from West Freeway Church of Christ #shooting – #shooter is visible wearing a black hood of some sort and a rifle. #WhiteSettlement #WestFreeway #ChurchOfChrist #BreakingNews #Breaking #News
Credit – Obtained by @NYDailyNews pic.twitter.com/r1pt092DDk— Josh Jakob Architect (@JJakobDesign) December 29, 2019
From the Associated Press:
Two people were killed in a shooting at a church near Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday morning and a third person has been taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said.
MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokeswoman Macara Trusty told the Associated Press that two people were fatally shot at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement. A third person in critical condition is being treated at a hospital and all of the victims are male, she said. MedStar is an ambulance service.
Authorities have not released any details about what led to the shooting.
An elder at the church told the New York Times that one of those killed was a security guard who responded to the shooter, calling him a dear friend.
“He was trying to do what he needed to do to protect the rest of us,” said the elder, Mike Tinius.
“It’s extremely upsetting to see anyone committing violence,” he added.
Tinius said he didn’t know the gunman and that the shooting appeared to be random.
A woman who answered the phone at the West Freeway Church of Christ told the AP she could not answer any questions and said she was told to direct inquiries to authorities.
Trusty said she was told by a supervisor at the scene that one of the people who died was the shooter. White Settlement police have not responded to AP requests for comment. In an interview with Dallas TV station KTVT, Mike Drivdahl, the spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said he believes the gunman was among the three who were shot.
Two more people were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Trusty said.
White Settlement is about 8 miles (12 kilometers) west of Fort Worth.
It is not the first deadly shooting to take place at a church in Texas. In November 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on the congregation at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing more than two dozen worshippers, before taking his own life.
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Multiple reports are coming in of a shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas this morning. A man carrying a rifle walked into the church and fired three times.
From the Dallas Morning News:
MedStar spokeswoman Macara Trusty confirmed that one person died at the scene of the shooting, one person died en route to a hospital, and another person was transported to a hospital in critical condition.
The shooter was reportedly stopped by armed security in the church.
Jason Whitely of Dallas’s WFAA tweeted the following:
#BREAKING: Shooting inside of West Freeway Church of Christ in Fort Worth. Video shows a man enters the sanctuary with a rifle and fired three shots. Injuries unknown. Church security (armed members) subdued him. pic.twitter.com/dVXdgXBv4F
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 29, 2019
JUST IN: Here’s a look at the scene in White Settlement, where there was a shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ this morning. Two dead, including shooter, and another person is in critical condition. READ MORE: https://t.co/7WSadJl4GM pic.twitter.com/6bcETiS0kZ
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) December 29, 2019