Church shooting hero: 'I didn't kill a human, I killed an evil'
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas - "I didn't kill a human. I killed an evil."
Jack Wilson said that "he was put into a position that he would hope no one would have to be in."
Wilson was one of the parishioners who shot and killed a gunman during Sunday's service at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.
The gunman has been identified as 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen of River Oaks, who has a criminal record, according to two law enforcement sources.
Wilson, who is also running for County Commissioner for Precinct 3 in White Settlement, is the head of the security team at the church and talked about the tragic event in a Facebook post on Monday.
"I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church," he said. "I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed."
Kinnunen killed two people at the church was fatally shot within seconds by Wilson.
In a live stream of the church service, Kinnunen can be seen getting up from a pew and talking to someone at the back of the church before pulling out a gun and opening fire. Parishioners can then be heard screaming and seen ducking under pews or running as papers fly to the floor. Wilson can be seen shooting Kinnunen with one shot. Several other armed parishioners also pulled weapons and made sure the suspect was no longer a threat.
"The only clear shot I had was his head because I still had people in the pews who were not down as low as they could. That was my one shot," he said during an interview with an NBC reporter. "When I teach, I teach them not to shoot the head unless that is all that you have. If that is the only shot you've got, then that's the shot you take."
Wilson said the church's security team was formed almost two years ago and he believes that his team saved lives.
"We were aware that it could happen. Most of the members didn't feel like it would happen, but we were prepared if it did. If we didn't have the security team in place, in my opinion, it would have been a more severe outcome than what happened."
Sunday's shooting in Texas was also the second attack on a religious gathering in the U.S. in less than 24 hours. On Saturday night, a man stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah in an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City.
