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Churchgoers kill gunman who shot two during Texas service
HOUSTON, Dec 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Worshippers in the US state of Texas
shot dead a gunman who opened fire during a Sunday service, ending an attack
that killed one parishioner and wounded another, police said.
The latest US shooting at a house of worship took place in the suburban
Fort Worth community of White Settlement on Sunday morning when the gunman
entered West Freeway Church of Christ, officials said.
“A couple of members of the church returned fire, striking the suspect who
died at the scene,” White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told
reporters.
He praised the “heroic actions of those parishioners” for ending the
threat, although he said one of the suspect’s victims died at a local
hospital and a second has life-threatening injuries.
The FBI said it was working to find a motive for the attack.
“Places of worship are meant to be sacred, and I am grateful for the church
members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further
loss of life,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and families of those killed in the evil
act of violence that occurred at the West Freeway Church of Christ,” he
added.
Guns kill about 36,000 people a year in the United States — one of the
most heavily armed countries in the world — through suicides, homicides,
police-involved shootings and accidents.
The country has lived through a sharp rise in mass shootings in recent
years, alarming the public and triggering new debate on how to control this
epidemic of violence.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will only bring a gun
bill to the floor if it has presidential backing, but President Donald Trump
has given no clear preference.
In November 2017 a gunman shot dead 26 worshippers during a service at a
Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, outside San Antonio.
Almost a year later, in October 2018, an anti-Semitic shooter killed 11
people at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1050 hrs