In the little town of Wayne, members of CrossPointe Community Church were gathered in the sanctuary to celebrate a week of Vacation Bible school. A live feed of the church service picked up the sound of gunshots and the reaction inside the church.
The gun shots came from Brian Browning, 31. Just feet away from the church entrance, he was shot and killed by CrossPointe’s three-person security team Sunday morning. One person on the security team was slightly wounded in the gun fight.
Ryan Dobson is founder of Home Safe, a family-focused security program. He tells AFN one hero is the person behind the wheel of a white Ford pickup. That church member, who is not on the security team, nonetheless saw the shooter on the move and braved incoming gunfire from Browning to ram into him.
“I don't know who that guy is but I wanna buy him a cup of coffee,” Dobson says. “That was some serious in-the-moment thinking. Whoever that is, their pulse rests low.”
In a post-shooting message posted to its website, CrossPointe praised the "many heroes" who stopped the gunman, including its security team. It also praised the truck-driving church member who was "divinely positioned" to see the gunman approach the church building.
"This action kept the gunman from ever entering the building and gave our security team extra needed seconds to respond. Glory to God!" the church statement reads.
A second hero, Dobson advises, is a woman seen on the live feed (pictured above) who reacted quickly to the gun shots. The unnamed woman, dressed in a blue VBS t-shirt, is seen addressing the congregation from the stage and then takes a seat. Still wearing a wireless mic, she jumps up and takes charge after the sound of gunfire.
“Everybody to the back. Please, everybody come to the back,” she urges. “They gotta come. They gotta come. Come on.”
If the gunman had made it inside the church, Dobson reasons, that woman would have saved numerous lives by ordering the congregation to empty the sanctuary and and seek safety in the opposite direction.
However, after reviewing the live feed, Dobson says it is clear many of the adults and children in the church sanctuary did not know what to do.
“If a gun is going off, and you're hiding behind a folding chair in an auditorium, you are not in a place of safety,” he warns.
Dobson’s safety advice is to always be aware of the nearest exit in every room and to make sure your family, including your children, know to use it in an emergency situation.
In its online statement, the church also mentioned the shooter by name and its mission to share the Gospel:
Through all of this, know that we will continue to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ with boldness and clarity so that people, including the Brian Browning’s of the world, can learn that we can all be forgiven if we repent from our sins and place our faith in Jesus Christ, who is forever praised, amen.
