The hero FBI agent who took down a gunman in a Texas church on Sunday after he opened fire on parishioners has been identified along with one of the two innocent people who died.
Jack Wilson, a 70-year-old former FBI agent who is now the head of the volunteer security team at West Freeway Church in Fort Worth, returned fire on the shooter and brought him down within six seconds of the horror beginning.
He is running for county commissioner in the local area and said he was grateful he had the chance to defend himself and the other innocent people in the church from the ‘evil’ gunman. The shooter and his motive are yet to be identified.
Two innocent people died including Anton ‘Tony’ Wallace, a registered nurse and deacon who had just given out communion when the shooting began.
Wallace’s adult daughter watched in horror from her pew as her father was shot, then cradled him as he took last breaths.
The other person who died was the second volunteer security guard. His name has not been released.
Jack Wilson (left) took down the shooter. He is the head of the volunteer security team at the church. Anton ‘Tony’ Wallace, 64, (right) was a registered nurse and deacon who had just given out communion at West Freeway Church in White Settlement, near Fort Worth, when the gunman opened fire on Sunday morning
While the shots were being fired, people ducked under church pews as a church leader tried to calm people down
Wallace’s daughter Tiffany ran towards him then held him as he took his last breaths, she revealed in an interview on Sunday night.
‘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,’ she told NBC.
‘It just happened so fast,’ she added.
Tiffany said the shooter appeared to target one of two volunteer security guards first.
‘The guy just stood up from the pew, turned toward my dad and I guess he shot at the security guard,’ she said, adding that she was at a loss over the senseless violence.
‘You just wonder why? How can someone so evil, the devil, step into the church and do this,’ she said.
Wilson has been universally praised as a hero for taking out the gunman within seconds of the shooting.
Wilson, 70, is running for County Commissioner. He said he was ‘blessed with the ability’ to protect the other parishioners
Jack with his wife of 51 years, Margaret. He previously worked as a sheriff, and says he continues to work with law enforcement at a federal level
Wilson is pictured laying a wreath at the grave of a soldier in a military cemetery earlier this year
On Facebook, he said he hoped he would never be in the position he was put in but that he was thankful he could save lives.
‘I just want to thank all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today.
‘The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exist and I had to take out an active shooter in church.
‘I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed.
‘Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.’
On Facebook, he describes himself as a former sheriff and small business owner.
Public records show he owns On Target Firearms. There are mixed reports over whether that is a gun store or a shooting school. Wilson did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiries on Monday morning.
He is an enthusiastic Trump supporter, Republican and gun owner whose campaign mission is to help law enforcement and restore the public respect police officers once enjoyed.
Wilson has been married for 51 years, has three daughters and some grandchildren.
The other security guard who was at the church and who died has not yet been named.
An elder at the church told The New York Times he was a dear friend.
‘He was trying to do what he needed to do to protect the rest of us,’ said elder, Mike Tinius.
‘It’s extremely upsetting to see anyone committing violence,’ he added.
Tiffany Wallace, the deacon’s daughter, was watching in the pews as the gunman opened fire. She ran towards her father after he was shot and held him as he took his final breaths
Wallace was a registered nurse, husband, father and grandfather. His family say they are at a loss over the senseless violence
The FBI is investigating the shooting and they have not released the identity of the gunman. They say he was ‘relatively transient’ but was known to have connections to the area.
Church goers who survived the shooting say they had never seen him before.
A woman whose mother was sat next to him said she thought he was behaving strangely and that she noticed she had never seen him before.
‘She’s the one who recognized that he had a fake beard on, sunglasses and he had writing on the back of his jacket.
‘She knew from growing up at church that she didn’t recognize this gentleman. The moment she saw the shotgun come out, she went under the bench and hid,’ Davis told WFAA.
She added that she was giving ‘glory to God’ that her mother survived.
The volunteer security team has been in place at the church for at least a decade, according to sources.
Minister Jack Cummings said: ‘They saved a lot of lives today because this thing would have been a massacre otherwise.
‘He was immediately hit by one of our marksmen. The next thing I know, he was lying on the floor.’
Witnesses said the shooting occurred as the communion was about to end Sunday morning. Loved ones hug one another outside the church
MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokeswoman Macara Trusty said two people were fatally shot at the West Freeway Church of Christ (officers outside the church) in White Settlement