A Time for Change

Last July, Jim Adkisson entered into a church in Tennessee to kill the members because it was a church where he believed that liberals congregated.  He killed two people. and wounded six at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.  Adkisson pleaded guilty to escape the death penalty.  CNN says that he will face life in prison without parole.  Sarah Palin’s church in Wasilla, Alaska was set ablaze last fall when people were inside at a church function.

Today there was another church shooting in Marysville, Illinois where the pastor, Fred Winters, was shot to death during services in front of his parishioners.  According to CNN:

Fred Winters, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Maryville, was shot and killed during the 8 a.m. service, and the attacker and two parishioners suffered knife wounds in the attack, said Illinois state police spokesman Ralph Timmins.

The gunman walked in during the service and walked up to the pulpit, opening fire when he was met by Winters, Timmins said. A police dispatcher in Maryville, about 10 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri, told CNN the pastor was shot three times.

Timmins said the gunman’s .45-caliber pistol jammed after he shot Winters. The shooter then pulled out a knife and turned it on himself before being tackled by some of the roughly 150 worshippers attending the church.

Two of those who went after the attacker suffered non-life-threatening injuries, while the suspect’s injuries are “very serious,” Timmins said.

Witness Claudia Bohley told CNN affiliate KSDK she was in the church’s foyer waiting for the service to begin when she heard “pop, pop, pop. … We just couldn’t imagine what had happened.”

She said she ran into the sanctuary and saw what looked like paper scattered on the pulpit. She said she was later told that the bullet hit Winters’ Bible.

“It was like confetti. It went everywhere,” she said. “People were down on their knees and on the floor, screaming and praying.”

A regional Southwestern Illinois publication, BND.com, had further details of the shooting, including the manner in which the gunman approached the pastor:

Congregations members thought that the scene was some kind of staged drama as the gunman walked up the center aisle and shouted out, “Hey, Fred.” When Winter asked whether he could help the man, the gunman pulled out a .45-caliber handgun. Winter raised up a Bible and the gunman fired and the bullet went through the Bible and struck Winter.

At that moment, people began running, screaming and praying. Witnesses said that when the bullet hit the Bible, it sent paper shooting in the air like confetti.

The gunman tried to fire again but his weapon jammed, so he pulled out a knife as two members of the congregation jumped him and tried to subdue him. The gunman then stabbed the two men, identified by witnesses as Keith Milton and Terry Bullard.

“They tried to take him down and they were injured, but their injuries are not life-threatening,” trooper Timmons said.

According to CBS, the police have not developed a link between the gunman and the pastor or what caused him to come to the church.  Another pastor said that he briefly got a look at the gunman, but did not recognize his face.