Report: Texas Church Attacker Fled After Good Guy with a Gun Shot at Him by AWR Hawkins 5 Nov 2017
A woman who was one of the first people to arrive on scene after the Texas church shooting says the gunman fled the scene after a good guy with a gun fired at him.
KSAT’s Erica Hernandez said she arrived at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs to see “emergency personnel” surrounding the church. She arrived before law enforcement had the opportunity to put up crime scene tape.
Hernandez said she went across the street where neighbors were gathered and they told her the gunman shot outside the church then went inside and opened fire as well. She said, “First, [he] started shooting from outside the church, and then went inside the church. They said he may have dropped anywhere from three to eight clips as he was firing. He had a lot of ammo on him, he had a mask and he was in full gear.”
Hernandez said church neighbors “were running for cover” because the gunman was firing at people who were watching him. She said an unidentified church neighbor “returned fire” and that is when “[the gunman] got back into his vehicle and left the scene.”
Hernandez works for KSAT and said she happened to be in Sutherland Springs when the attack happened because she had come “to visit family for breakfast.”
The Texas shooting heroes: How brave locals shot then pursued gunman in 95mph chase before running his car off road The two residents worked together to stop Devin Patrick Kelley after he opened fire on a church, killing at least 26 worshippers Natalie Evans Sophie Evans 9:11, 6 NOV 2017Updated10:56, 6 NOV 2017
Two heroic locals pursued the Texas gunman in a 95mph car chase before keeping a rifle trained on him until police arrived, it has emerged.
Brave resident Stephen Willeford is said to have confronted and shot Devin Patrick Kelley as he left the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.
Despite having no military experience, he reportedly opened fire on the 26-year-old suspect with a rifle, hitting him in between his body armour.
As the alleged killer then dropped his own gun and fled in an SUV, Mr Willeford, 55, called on bystander, Johnnie Langendorff, to help him.
The pair jumped in Mr Langendorff's truck and chased after Kelley, who had a head start, hitting speeds of 95mph as they weaved around traffic. ......................................................... Eventually, they managed to run him off the road, it is claimed.
As Kelley - who has been named as the shooter by US media - lost control of the SUV and came to a halt, Mr Langendorff stopped his own truck.
Mr Willeford then leaped out, with his rifle drawn. He kept the weapon trained on Kelley until police arrived at the scene minutes later.
The suspect was reportedly found dead in his car. .......................................................
Sharpshooting plumber fired shot that took down Texas church gunman By Yaron Steinbuch November 6, 2017 | 8:28am | Updated
Sharpshooting plumber fired shot that took down Texas church gunman Stephen Willeford Facebook
Mr Willeford then called on courageous bystander, Johnnie Langendorff, pictured, to help him chase down the suspect (Image: Facebook)
‘Hero’ neighbor got his rifle, shot at Texas church gunman
The man hailed as a hero for confronting the Texas mass shooter during his rampage is a sharpshooting plumber with no military background — who hit the gunman through a gap in his body armor, according to a report.
Stephen Willeford managed to shoot Devin Kelley before jumping in another man’s truck and chasing him down, the Daily Mail reported.
Texas Department of Public Safety chief Freeman Martin said Willeford “grabbed his rifle and engaged the suspect” after Kelley left the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where he opened fire with an assault rifle and killed 26 people.
An area resident told the paper that Willeford, an avid biker who attends another church, learned about the shooting when his daughter called to say a man clad in body armor was shooting worshipers.
The local said that although Willeford has no military background, he didn’t hesitate when he came face to face with the suspect — and managed to squeeze off a round that struck the gunman, who had dropped his Ruger AR-15 variant.
Willeford jumped into a truck driven by another local, Johnnie Langendorff, who witnessed the confrontation, and the pair gave chase.
Langendorff later told reporters about the dramatic pursuit.
“I pulled up to the intersection where the shooting happened and I saw two men exchanging gunfire, the other being a citizen of the community,” he said.
“The shooter of the church had taken off, fled in his vehicle, and the other gentleman came and he said, ‘We need to pursue him,’ that he just shot up the church. So that’s what I did. I just acted.”
He said he didn’t know who the heroic citizen was at the time.
“He was just a member of the community, and whenever he came to my vehicle in distress with his weapon, he explained very quickly what happened and he got in the truck and I knew it was just time [to go],” he said, KSAT reported.
“So we were doing about 95 mph, going around traffic and everything,” he added.
“Eventually he came to kind of a slowdown and after that, we got within just a few feet of him and he got off the road … He just lost control and that’s whenever I put the vehicle in park … The other gentleman jumped out and had his rifle drawn on him and he didn’t move after that,” he said.
Langendorff’s girlfriend, Summer Caddel, said Kelley died a few feet away from Langendorff.
The local man said Kelley was already dead when they found him.
“He was bleeding pretty bad,” the resident told the news outlet of Kelley while he was driving. “He didn’t live much longer than that.”
Martin confirmed that police had found Kelley dead.
“We are not sure if it was self-inflicted or if he was shot by a local resident,” the police official said.