We, the comrades of Unit
1012: The VFFDP, send our utmost condolences to the loved ones the two victims
of the White Settlement Church Shooting, Richard White and Tony Wallace. We
will not forget them.
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Tony
Wallace and Richard White, the two Victims Of White Settlement Church Shooting
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Here is our prayer for
them:
ALMIGHTY God,
with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with
whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the
flesh, are in joy and felicity: We give thee hearty thanks, for that it hath
pleased thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful
world; beseeching thee that it may please thee, of thy gracious goodness,
shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom;
that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy Name,
may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy
eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
White Settlement
shooting victims were church deacon, security team member
By Dan Godwin
and Terrance Friday
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas - Sunday’s shooting at the West Freeway Church of
Christ left two innocent people dead.
Tony Wallace, 64, was a deacon at the church and
had just handed out communion at the time
of the shooting. Richard White was one of the two security guards and was
drawing his weapon when he was hit.
Wallace leaves behind an extended family, who said
he was a generous man with a great sense of humor.
“My dad always says just forgive so
we are trying to forgive and just forgive,” said Sarah Wallace, Tony’s daughter.
Wallace was a registered nurse who hardly ever
missed a service, his family said. Wallace was holding a communion plate when
he was targeted by the
gunman, Keith Kinnunen.
“We just found out his name and I’m
like, did you have family? Did you have anything because we would’ve been there
for you. My dad would’ve been there for you. My dad would’ve done anything for
him,” Sarah said.
News quickly spread on Sunday about what happened,
devastating a family just days after Christmas.
“When she called me yesterday it hit
me hard,” said
Lindsey Wallace, Tony’s niece. “My dad is feeling
it. It’s his little brother. So I’m just trying to be strong for him and for
her.”
Chris Lester turns 13 next week, but he'll
celebrate his birthday without his granddad. The seventh grader has tried to
comfort his mom and aunt.
“I just wish he was here right now,” Lester said. “He
taught me everything so I’m going to miss him being here.”
The family is thankful for the security team who
stopped what could've been further violence. They wonder what prompted the gunman
to act with such disregard.
"I just hope his family… I don’t
know why I keep wishing his family would reach out and apologize for him,” Sarah said.
White was one of the security guards who responded
to the shooting. He was just a few feet away from the gunman when he was hit.
"He was trying to do what he
needed to do to protect the rest of us," church elder, Mike Tinius, told the Associated
Press.
Misty White, Richard’s daughter-in-law, called him
a “true hero” in a Facebook post. The family respectfully declined on-camera
interviews.
“You were taken from us yesterday in
a senseless act of violence. You stood up against evil and sacrificed your
life. Many lives were saved because of your actions. You have always been a
hero to us but the whole world is seeing you as a hero now. We love you, we
miss you, we are heartbroken,” she
wrote.
Britt Farmer, the church’s lead minister, praised
White on Monday.
“Preachers don't have many best
friends. If you've never been a preacher you don't understand that. But he was
my best friend and he died saving lives. I love Richard White,” Farmer said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety had high
praise for the courageous volunteers who responded to the attack.
“The true heroes in this are the
people who were sitting in those pews today and responded -- the immediate
responders," said
Texas DPS Regional Director Jeoff Williams.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/white-settlement-shooting-victims-were-church-deacon-security-team-member
'Stood up against evil': Relatives remember 2 men killed in church shooting
The shooter,
43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, had a criminal record, public records show.
Author: Jason Wheeler, Matt
Howerton, Charlotte Huffman
Published: 5:03 PM CST December
30, 2019
Updated: 6:45 PM CST December 30,
2019
Authorities have identified the
gunman and two people killed during a shooting Sunday morning at a White
Settlement church.
Two congregants — 67-year-old
Richard White of River Oaks and 64-year-old Tony Wallace of Fort Worth — were
shot and killed by 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, according to Texas
Department of Public Safety officials.
Wilson said he and others were watching Kinnunen when he entered the church because he was wearing a wig and a fake beard.
The service at West Freeway Church of Christ was being live-streamed online, showing the moments before, during and after the shooting. The church's video was later removed.
Kinnunen is seen standing up and appears to say something to one of the men before he pulls a shotgun from his coat. Wilson said White was pulling out his gun when Kinnunen shot him.
The shooter then turned the gun on Wallace, Wilson said.
Wilson said he couldn't shoot back right away because people were starting to stand up.
"About a second later had a clear shot, then I took the shot," Wilson said.
'Liked to help people'
One of those killed was a registered nurse.Wallace joined the church in 2007. He was a deacon and a nurse who worked at Texas Health Resources, his family said.
"He just really liked to help people," said daughter Sarah.
He was known for going to homes and leading prayer when people were ill.
His grandchildren and another daughter were with him Sunday at church. His daughter climbed over pews to get to him after the shooting.
"She was just like, 'You're going to make it, we love you,'" Sarah said of her sister. "And he was telling her, 'I just need oxygen. I just need oxygen.'"
Wallace was trying to tell his family how to treat him. He had put his arm up to protect himself. His family said the shot struck his lungs.
The family said the church was welcoming to everyone.
Wallace's 12-year-old grandson, Chris, said he saw the shooter walk into the church. He recalled his aunt telling his cousin not to make fun of his appearance.
"I knew he wasn't a real person because when he came in at first he was like, he looked homeless and he looked like he was planning something," Chris said "And he had a big coat on, like a fake beard, everything
The Wallace family is still grappling with their loss but is welcoming people to come over.
"We just opened our
house. We told everybody, 'If you want to come, it's totally fine,'" Sarah said. "He would want our door open, so we keep our door
open."
'Stood up against evil'
White was among the armed congregants at
the church who was watching Kinnunen before the shooting.
His family wrote on Facebook that his life was taken in a
"senseless act of violence."
"You
stood up against evil and sacrificed your life," wrote his daughter-in-law
Misty York White. "Many lives were saved because of your
actions."
Misty York
White wrote that the family has always seen White as a hero but now everyone
knows.
In an
official statement
released by the family on Facebook, White was described as "an Eagle
Scout, lover of adventure, and all things outdoors." The family also
identified him as devoted member of the church and an active volunteer on the
security team.
"Rich
constantly put others first and was always willing to help with a smile on his
face," the Facebook post read.
White had
read scripture before communion. The shooting occurred during communion.
Alleged shooter
Kinnunen had a criminal record, public
records show.
He was arrested in Oklahoma in 2011 on a
domestic violence charge and again in 2012 on a charge of arson, according to
officials in Grady County.
The FBI was seen visiting residential and
commercial locations Monday in Fort Worth, White Settlement and River Oaks to
better understand what motivated Kinnunen to open fire on the West Freeway
Church of Christ congregation.
While his motive remains unclear, WFAA
is learning more about Kinnunen's troubled past.
"The shooter has had multiple
contacts with law enforcement in the past but he was not on any sort of watch
list," said Matthew DeSarno with the FBI in Dallas.
The 43-year-old has roots in River Oaks
but DeSarno described him as "relatively transient."
Public records show Kinnunen's
criminal record spans from Tarrant County to Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Arizona.
He was arrested in Oklahoma in 2011 on a
domestic violence charge and again in 2012 on a charge of arson, according to
officials in Grady County.
In 2013, his ex-wife filed a protective
order against him.
Also in 2013, an Oklahoma court found
Kinnunen mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered an evaluation by the
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
According to records from the Pima
County Sheriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department, Kinnunen was
arrested in 2010 for theft and in 2011 for disorderly conduct.
In Tarrant County, Kinnunen's arrest
record includes a 2009 charge of aggravated assault and a 2013 charge for theft
of property between $50 and $500.
He was also arrested in 2016 in New Jersey on a charge
of unlawful possession of a weapon, according to authorities in Linden, N.J.
News reports showed Kinnunen was found
near a refinery with a shotgun.
He told police he was homeless and likes
to take pictures of "interesting sites," reported My Central Jersey.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/stood-up-against-evil-relatives-remember-2-men-killed-in-church-shooting/287-87a43c5f-1fa2-4120-ba00-77040ddc4ed5
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| [PHOTO SOURCE: https://twitter.com/c_j_barone/status/926028392515932161] |
Daughter of Deacon Shot
and Killed During Church Service: ‘You Just Wonder Why’
“I ran toward my dad
and the last thing I remember is him asking for oxygen, and I was just holding
him, telling him I loved him and that he was going to make it"
By Maria
Guerrero 5:04 pm on December 30, 2019
The daughter
of one of two victims murdered
Sunday morning at West Freeway Church of Christ is speaking out.
“You
don’t think it’s going to hit home, and the fact that it hit our home and
someone that supports us and loves us and is our dad [is gone], that’s what
hurts the most,” Tiffany Wallace said.
Wallace not
only lost her father, Anton “Tony” Wallace, Sunday morning, but the 64-year-old
was taken just feet from her and in their house of worship.
“It just
happened so fast,” she said.
Wallace was a husband, father,
grandfather and a registered nurse. He was also a deacon and lifelong member of
West Freeway Church of Christ.
Wallace said her dad had just given out
communion in the back of the church when she noticed a man she’d never seen
before approach him.
“The guy just
stood up from the pew, turned toward my dad and I guess he shot at the security
guard,” she said.
Through the
shots and chaos that ensued, she realized her dad had been hit.
“I ran toward
my dad and the last thing I remember is him asking for oxygen, and I was just
holding him, telling him I loved him and that he was going to make it,” Wallace
said.
He was rushed
to the hospital but succumbed to his injury.
“You just
wonder why. How can someone so evil -- the devil -- step into the church and do
this?” she said.
With few
answers, the family can only remember the man who was steadfast in his faith
and family.
“He was
amazing. He was a godly person, and even when we talked about going to heaven
he always said, 'I’m always prepared,'" she said. “But you never thought
this would happen.”
Yet even in
her grief, the 32-year-old has found that forgiveness exists.
“I forgive
him [the gunman], and that’s the hardest thing to say,” she said.
Wallace has
expressed gratitude for the armed church member who also serves as a security
guard for the parish for bringing down the gunman.
“He is a hero
to me,” she said. “I’m just glad everybody’s OK. I know my dad is up there with
his sister, his parents, in a wonderful place. Not in pain anymore … He’s just
in peace now. I know he’s in good hands.”
Wallace also
wanted to thank a nurse who was present and ran to help the injured and the
entire congregation for their support and prayers.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/daughter-of-deacon-shot-and-killed-during-church-service-speaks-out/2283486/
…. …. https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/2497124937076124
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMaii-BJzGg
OTHER LINKS:
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Shoots Alleged Texas Church Shooter
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