A report published late on Sunday night identified the man who allegedly used a firearm on Sunday to stop an armed attacker at West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas as 71-year-old Jack Wilson.
Heavy.com, which specializes in collecting hard to find information about trending news stories, first identified Wilson as the man who was allegedly responsible for preventing the shooting in White Settlement from being significantly worse.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) tweeted out a link to Heavy.com’s report on Wilson, which noted that Wilson “is a former reserve deputy sheriff who was the long-time owner of a firearms training academy.”
Massie, who is a staunch Second Amendment supporter, told The Daily Wire, “I shudder to think what would have transpired if that church had been a gun free zone.”
“Several in the media have tried to downplay the heroic actions of this individual, by misleading people into thinking that he was a paid guard or career law enforcement,” Massie continued. “It appears to me that he was a highly trained citizen who cared enough about his fellow churchgoers to carry a firearm and risk his life in order to protect them.”
The report highlighted a Facebook post from a page that purportedly belongs to Wilson, who is running for a campaign for county commissioner for Precinct 3, which is in Hood County.
In the post, Wilson wrote the following about the incident that transpired at the church:
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.
This link has more information on the hero in Texas…https://t.co/XUFfVvHaw4 pic.twitter.com/Mb8OA2SkKU
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 30, 2019
The report says that Wilson, who allegedly shot the attacker approximately 5 seconds after the attacker fired his first shot, owned a shooting range in Texas called On Target Firearms Training Academy, Inc., until it burned down a couple of years ago.
As a result of the MAJOR FIRE at ON TARGET, on January 23,2016, which resulted in total destruction of the ranges, major…
Posted by On Target Firearms Training Academy, Inc. on Sunday, May 8, 2016
On the page, Wilson’s company appears to have taught, or at least allowed, NRA FIRST Steps courses to be taught at the facility.
April's weekday Concealed Handgun License class is Wednesday the 30th. Starts at 1:00pm. NRA First Steps starts at 9:00am.
Posted by On Target Firearms Training Academy, Inc. on Tuesday, April 15, 2014
The tragic shooting comes after Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden attacked Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this year for signing a bill into law that allowed lawful gun owners to carry firearms into their places of worship to protect themselves.
“Dealing with firearms, it is irrational, with all due respect to the governor of Texas, irrational what they are doing,” Biden told reporters on September 2. “On the very day you see a mass shooting … and we’re talking about loosening access to have guns, to be able to take them into places of worship, it’s just absolutely irrational. It’s totally irrational.”
An NRA instructor also stopped the tragic shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2018 when he grabbed his rifle and ran to the church and engaged the terrorist.
Biden also demonized the hero from the Sutherland Springs tragedy, telling a national audience that he should not have been allowed to have the firearm that he used to stop the terrorist.
WATCH:
Joe Biden says that the man who stopped the Texas church shooter should not have been armed. pic.twitter.com/pY3hBHPHuX
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 14, 2017