WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas – The man said to be a former FBI agent, but becoming known as the “Hero Worshipper” who jumped into action when a gunman opened fire during a church service in Texas, said Monday he was placed in a position he didn’t want to be in, but had to react because “evil exists.”
Two men were murdered when the gunman opened fire at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement on Sunday morning as more than 240 parishioners were inside. Within seconds, he was shot to death by two congregants who fired back.
Jack Wilson, a Hood County resident running for commissioner for Precinct 3 who is the head of the church’s security team, shared some details on his campaign’s Facebook page as he gave thanks to “all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today.”
“The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exists and I had to take out an active shooter in church,” he wrote. “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.”
Jack Wilson said he “had to take out an active shooter in church” in a Facebook post. (West Freeway Church of Christ/Courtesy of Law Enforcement/Facebook)
At a news conference Sunday night, White Settlement Police Department Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters the unnamed gunman had sat down in a pew before getting up, taking out a shotgun and firing at a parishioner, who was killed.
A livestream of the church service shows the gunman 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.
In this still frame from livestreamed video provided by law enforcement, churchgoers take cover while a congregant armed with a handgun, top left, engages a man who opened fire, near top center just right of windows, during a service at West Freeway Church of Christ, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, in White Settlement, Texas. (West Freeway Church of Christ/Courtesy of Law Enforcement)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told reporters on Sunday the church’s team responded “quickly,” and within six seconds, the shooting was over.
“Two of the parishioners who were volunteers of the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives,” Patrick said.
On his Facebook page, Wilson lists his personal history as a small business owner for 30 years and who served in negotiating proposals and contracts for a major defense company. He said he also served as a Hood County Reserve Deputy Sheriff from 1980 to 1986. It was not immediately clear when he served as an FBI agent, Fox News reported, but he said that he had taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution “multiple times” beginning in 1965, when he joined the National Guard, a reserve deputy for the Hood County Sheriff’s Department, and “multiple times” with the Department of Defense Security Clearances beginning in 1965 through 1995.
“I swore to the oath then and still live by the oath today,” he wrote.
In the Facebook post on his personal history, he added: “I continue to work with Federal, State and local levels of law enforcement.”
Wilson, who has previously posted on Facebook does “totally “stand” by President Trump, said his mission of running for the county office is to “be accessible to serve the public with honesty and integrity, to help provide essential services through an efficient and effective use of the County’s resources and to be accountable to the citizens of Precinct 3 and all citizens of Hood County.”
The commissioner candidate says his wife of 51 years has raised his family in Granbury/Hood County for the last 42 years, and are the proud parents of three daughters and the “blessed grandparents” of 10, and 1 great-grandchild.
“I feel I have the knowledge and passion to move this growing county into a place all residents can be proud to call home,” he wrote.
While authorities have also not yet identified those killed in the shooting, Tiffany Wallace told Dallas TV station KXAS that her father, Anton “Tony” Wallace, was one of the victims in the attack. She said her father was a deacon at the church and had just passed out communion when the gunman approached him.
“I ran toward my dad and the last thing I remember is him asking for oxygen and I was just holding him, telling him I loved him and that he was going to make it,” Wallace said. Her father was rushed to a hospital but did not survive.
“You just wonder why? How can someone so evil, the devil, step into the church and do this?” – Tiffany Wallace not only lost her father, but 64-year-old Anton “Tony” Wallace was taken feet from her and in their house of worship Sunday morning. https://t.co/R0mz0F3FVG pic.twitter.com/s4triR5XlH
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) December 30, 2019
The second parishioner who died in the shooting was identified to CBS News as Richard White.
“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,” Wilson wrote early Monday. “Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.”
Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state to pray for the victims, their loved ones and the community of White Settlement, located about 8 miles west of Fort Worth.
“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,” Abbott said in a tweeted statement.
