Texas Rangers: Armed Citizen ‘Engaged’ Killer, Ending Rampage

‘A local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect’

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Today's mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, was only halted after an armed Texan "engaged" the killer and put an end to the rampage, the Texas Rangers reported.

Freeman Martin, a major in the Texas Rangers and a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, says the suspect dropped his rifle and fled after being confronted by a local man who had grabbed his rifle.

Freeman provided a timeline of the tragedy in a press briefing Sunday evening.

"At approximately 11:20 this morning a suspect was seen at a Valero gas station in Sutherland Springs, Texas," Martin said. "He was dressed in all black. That suspect crossed the street to the church, exited his vehicle and began firing at the church."

"That suspect then moved to the right side of the church and then continued to fire," he continued. "That suspect entered the church and continued to fire. As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle and fled from the church." 

"Our local citizen pursued the suspect at that time," Freeman went on. "A short time later as law enforcement responded that suspect right at the Wilson/Guadalupe County line crashed out and was found deceased in his vehicle. At this time we don’t know if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if he was shot by the local resident. We know he’s deceased in the vehicle. "

The suspected killer is being reported as Devin Patrick Kelley. However, Freeman would reported, "The suspect has not been completely identified. We believe he’s a young white male, maybe in his early 20s. He was dressed in all black, tactical type gear and was wearing a ballistic vest."

A local resident and neighbor of the good samaritan, Kevin Jordan, witnessed his as-yet unnamed neighbor put an end to the rampage, and possibly kill the shooter. Jordan is also a trained medical assistant and tended to the victims. Watch him recount the experience here.

Another local man, Johnnie Langendorff, said he was outside the church when he saw the good samaritan in a gunfight with the killer; after the killer tried making a getaway, Langendorff gave the good samaritan a ride, and they engaged in a high-speed chase. . Watch Langendorff recount his role in helping hasten the killer's demise.  


RELATED:

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— Rep. Gonzales: Texas Shooting ‘the 4th of 5th This Year that Could Have Been’ Prevented via Gun Control

— MSNBC’s Nance: ‘The Second Amendment Nullified the Right to Live’ for this Texas Church

— MSNBC’s Cavanaugh on Texas: ‘We Can’t Get Congress to Give Us One Sentence’ Banning Bump Stocks

— CNN’s Acosta on Texas Tragedy: Is this ‘the New Normal the President Is Comfortable With?’

— Montage: After Tragedy Hits Texas, Media Race to Their Narrative-Building Battle Stations

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