The gunman who opened fire outside a Michigan church over the weekend, sending parishioners fleeing for their lives, was a local who attended services with his mother, according to authorities and reports.
Brian Anthony Browning, 31, was armed to the teeth with weapons and ammo when he began shooting outside the CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, leaving stunned worshippers running for cover, according to footage posted on X by BNO News.
“Everybody to the back!” a woman yelled to panicked parishioners inside the church. “Please, everybody, come to the back!”
Browning’s mother is a member of the church, and he attended services there a handful of times over the past year, the Detroit News reported.
The motive for the shooting is not clear. Browning was shot dead by church security before he could enter the church. A security guard also was wounded in the firefight.
Browning was armed with an AR-15-style rifle at the time, along with more than a dozen fully loaded magazines, a semiautomatic handgun with an extended magazine and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, the outlet said.
He was spotted driving “erratically” outside the church before the shooting, the News said.
The suspect was wearing a tactical vest when he exited a vehicle and opened fire with a long gun and handgun, Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong said during a press conference Sunday.
A churchgoer drove over him with a pickup truck to try to stop him, CrossPointe Community Church Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr. told the outlet.
Then “the security team locked the front doors and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was shot and killed by a member of the security team,” Wayne police said in a statement.
At least two church security officers fatally wounded Browning before he had a chance to enter the church, cops said.
Cops arrived and attempted to perform life-saving measures on Browning, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Strong said.
A security guard was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to authorities.
More rifles, semiautomatic handguns and ammunition were found in Browning’s home, the outlet reported.
He had no previous contacts with police or a criminal record, cops said.
“We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church’s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,” Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong said in a statement.
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