A gunman who opened fire in a Texas church, killing one person and leaving another in critical condition, died after parishioners at the Sunday morning service shot him in response, authorities said.
The Fort Worth Fire Department said three people, including the person who they believed to be the shooter, were transported from the scene in critical condition. The scene was secure, they added.
Two of the people, including the shooter, died while en route to the hospital, and the third person was successfully resuscitated by paramedics, according to Macara Trusty, a spokeswoman for local emergency services MedStar. Two more people sustained minor injuries as they ducked for cover inside the church, she said.
The incident took place in White Settlement, a suburb northwest of Fort Worth, at the West Freeway Church of Christ.
White Settlement police chief J.P. Bevering said that the gunman was shot by two worshippers who were armed and returned fire. “The threat is stopped based on the heroic actions of the two parishioners in the church,” Bevering said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement: “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.”
The shooting was captured on video as the church service was apparently being streamed on YouTube, according to the New York Daily News.
“You feel like your life is flashing before you. I was so worried about my little one,” witness Isabel Arreola told CBS 11.
The shooting came a day after an assailant with a knife stabbed five people at a Hanukkah party in New York. —Reuters
