Criminal attacks can happen in what would seem like the least likely places. An East Texas pastor discovered a 21-year-old man in his church’s bathroom holding a red bank bag. The pastor pointed his gun at the suspect and demanded that he leave but instead, he attacked the pastor, took his gun, and shot and killed him.
The suspect fled the area in the pastor’s car but was fairly quickly apprehended. Police reported that he had a gunshot wound through his hand so apparently the pastor got off at least one shot in his defense.
One of the other victims was the pastor’s wife who suffered an injury during a fall and another individual who was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound. When and where the second gunshot victim was injured is unknown at this time.
Turns out that the suspect was the subject of an overnight manhunt that started about 7:30 the previous evening. It’s thought that the church was just a place that he was able to access and hide out in.
Of course, we really don’t know what happened in that bathroom but we do know that bathrooms are generally small somewhat confined spaces where it can be difficult to maintain distance from a threat. That said, maybe we should all do a fresh evaluation of our weapon retention skills.
