An armed gunman was shot and killed by a church security guard and another church staff member, preventing a “large-scale mass shooting” at a church in Michigan on Sunday.
According to ABC News, the gunman was fatally shot by two church staff members. The outlet noted that one of the church’s security team staff members was shot in the leg by the suspect but is expected to recover following a successful surgery.
In a Sunday statement on Facebook, the Wayne Police Department said, “The Wayne Police Department responded to an active shooter at Crosspointe Church in Wayne this morning. Upon arrival, officers determined that a security guard for the church shot and killed the suspect. One victim was shot in the leg.”
According to Fox News, the Wayne Police Department has identified the deceased gunman as 31-year-old Brian Anthony Browning. While law enforcement officials have not revealed the motive behind Browning’s shooting attempt, officials confirmed that the suspect attended services at the church two or three times in the past year and that the suspect’s mother was a member of the church.
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Fox News reported that police officials were notified at roughly 11:06 a.m. on Sunday that a white male suspect with a tactical vest and camouflage clothing was taking out guns from his car and heading into CrossPointe Community Church. According to Fox News, police officials confirmed that the suspect was armed with an AR-15 rifle, over a dozen loaded magazines, a semiautomatic handgun, and hundreds of ammunition rounds.
In a press release obtained by Fox News, police officials said a witness of Sunday’s shooting claimed that he saw the 31-year-old driving a silver SUV “erratically in the church parking lot before he parked the vehicle on the west side of the building.” According to Fox News, one of the church parishioners hit the suspect with a pickup truck in the parking lot before a church security guard shot the gunman.
“The church security team was alerted by the [gunfire] and reacted quickly to engage the suspect outside the main entrance doors of the church,” police officials said in the press release. “The security team locked the front doors and exchanged [gunfire] with the suspect, who was shot and killed by a member of the security team. Officers arrived on scene and performed life-saving measures, but the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene by Wayne Fire Rescue.”
A video shared on social media shows the livestream footage of Crosspoint Community Church during Sunday’s incident. Church attendees can be seen being evacuated from the building.
During a Sunday press conference Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong said, “We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church’s staff members who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting.”
