A Texas grand jury Monday will not indict a volunteer security officer for a White Settlement church who fatally shot an armed man who killed two parishioners during a Sunday service, Associated Press reported.
Jack Wilson, a firearms instructor who also trained a volunteer security team at the West Freeway Church of Christ, fatally shot Keith Kinnunen on December 29 in White Settlement after Kinnunen shot and killed 67-year-old Richard White, another security volunteer, and 64-year-old Anton “Tony” Wallace, a server.
During a communion that morning, roughly 260 people inside the church scrambled for cover after Kinnunen started shooting, Wilson quickly grabbed his gun and fired a single shot that quickly ended the attack.
Prosecutor Tim Rodgers says the grand jury made the right decision.
“Texas law allows an individual, when they witness somebody placing others at risk of serious bodily injury or death, to act with deadly force to protect the other individuals,” says Rodgers. “He did it responsibly and, as a result, he was justified under the law in his
“Based upon the grand jury’s decision, the law enforcement investigation and our review of the case are complete. We believe the grand jury made the right decision.”
After the shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott gave Wilson Texas’ highest civilian honor: the Governor’s Medal of Courage.
Local, state and national officials praised his actions, and those of other churchgoers, that morning, saying that they saved countless other lives. On Twitter, President Donald Trump thanked the “brave parishioners” at the church.
“Lives were saved by these heroes,” he said.