Posted on 11/06/2017 4:03:31 AM PST by ETL
Full title:
Stephen Willeford, 55, grabbed his own rifle and rushed to confront Devin Kelley after being told an attack was underway by his daughter.
As he arrived outside the church he came face-to-face with Kelley.
Mr Willeford, a plumber with no military experience, shot him in the side through a gap in his body armour, forcing the killer to flee.
Mr Willeford and another passing resident, Johnnie Langedorff, then chased him at almost 100 miles per hour in a car as the wounded killer tried to make a getaway after taking a hostage.
Kelley is said to have killed 26 people – including a child aged five – when he stormed into the church on Sunday dressed in black tactical gear and armed with an assault rifle.
Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said: “The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. The man then chased the gunman.”
Mr Langedorff said: “He got a little bit of a jump on us. So we were doing about 95 miles per hour, going around traffic and everything.
“He just lost control and that’s whenever I put the vehicle in park. The other gentleman jumped out and had his rifle drawn on him and he didn’t move after that.”
Kelley was found a short distance away in his crashed vehicle, dead from a bullet wound. He had several more guns in his car, but the hostage was unhurt.
Police are still trying to establish whether Kelley died from Mr Willeford’s shot, or if he committed suicide.
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Speaking at a news conference in Japan, Mr Trump said: “Fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise it would have been – as bad as it was – it would have been much worse.”
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He [mass murderer Devin Kelley] served in logistics readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, and was jailed for one year in 2012 on two counts alleging assault on his wife Danielle Shields and their child.
In 2014, he was kicked out of the military.
Old school friends described Kelley, who lived in nearby New Braunfels, Texas, as a “creep” who made no secret of his anti-religious views.
Nina Rose Nava, who went to school with Kelley, said: “He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism.’
On Kelley’s Facebook page, he appeared to have a fascination with guns. He had recently shared a photo of an AR-15 style gun with the caption: ‘She’s a bad b***h.”
Kelley’s mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, is understood to be a parishioner at the First Baptist Church and was friends on social media with First Baptist Pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife.
Where did I say or imply in my post 68 anything of the sort? I said that Willeford (the plumber) shot Kelley once outside the church, apparently as the rampage was still going on. He later held him at gunpoint, but didn't fire again. The coward Kelley then, according to someone's comment here, reloaded before shooting himself. I knew about the shooting himself part, but not that he had (supposedly) reloaded following the chase and subsequent crash. If that is indeed the case, that he reloaded, hero Willeford displayed incredible control not to shoot him again at that point.
Maybe they should ask the hostage.
Willeford reportedly shot him once in the side while outside the church. Would the mass murderer have shot himself in the side in a suicide attempt?
Personal connection to someone in the church.
What I thought it would be.
“I never saw it before, great word, should be more widely bruited.”
That is one for the tally book of every American.
You did not. I was just showing compare and contrast about acceptabilty for those that believe in texas you can just shoot a killer with no limitation.
“The Texas church madman was a disgraced Air Force veteran who was court-marshaled in 2012 after assaulting his wife and child, reports said.
Devin Patrick Kelley, who joined the military in 2010,was given a dishonorable discharge and slapped with 12 months of confinement in 2014 after his court marshaling, CBS News reported.
The military said Sunday that Kelly served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge.
The Pentagon also confirmed that Kelley was an airman “at one point,” but did not provide additional details.
Kelly was married and lived in a wooded area on the rural, western outskirts of New Braunfels, north of San Antonio.
His mother-in-law has a post-office box in Sutherland Springs, where he launched his massacre, about 50 minutes away.”
http://nypost.com/2017/11/05/texas-church-shooter-was-a-dishonorably-discharged-air-force-veteran/
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"Kelley’s mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, is understood to be a parishioner at the First Baptist Church and was friends on social media with First Baptist Pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife."
That’s two positive reports from British publications that appear to applaud a non-police resident’s use of a weapon to stop a murderer. I’m pleasantly surprised!
I don't think it would be legal anywhere in the US to shoot someone who isn't an immediate danger to you or someone else. Hero Willeford shot an active shooter at the scene of the crime.
And if it was true that Kelley had reloaded following the car crash, IMO, he (Willeford) would have had the right to shoot him again at that point.
Yes, incredible isn't it.
BTW, sorry for not pinging you to this thread. Meant to, but forgot.
And thanks again for your pinging me on the hero's ID early this morning. That is what prompted me to post this thread.
How many? Probably all of them.
This is the first we’ve heard about a hostage.
Two good men sent this monster straight to hell before he could hurt anyone else.
“after his court marshaling, CBS News reported.”
It’s Court Martial.
L
You get alot of information bouncing around after a situation like this. Everyone posts bits and pieces of stories you hear.
It’s possible that the reports of a hostage come from callers witnessing the chase.
They see a pickup truck with an armed man in the passenger seat and assume its a guy with a hostage , but it turns out it’s the good-guy chasing the shooter.
No problem, FRiend. Thanks for clarifying.
Here’s another one. I need to go for a little while.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4851812/texas-church-shooting-devin-kelley-facebook-atheism/
That’s true. But if the report was recent, it probably is accurate, as I’m sure they would have sorted that out by now.
A plumber???? A toxic-masculinity, white-privelege deplorable?!
Wow. Excellent marksmanship.
Thank you, Mr. Willeford.
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