A security officer credited with stopping what could have been a major mass shooting in a Texas church last year will not be prosecuted after a grand jury decided he acted within his rights.
In a statement released by Tarrant County district attorney’s office, prosecutor Tim Rodgers said the grand jury found Jack Wilson was “justified” in using lethal force to kill 43-year-old gunman Keith Thomas Kinnunen, who opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, on Dec. 29, 2019.
Rodgers said Wilson, who was head of the church’s voluntary security team, was within his rights as a Texas citizen to kill the shooter after the state legislature passed a law allowing residents to use deadly force when protecting others from being seriously injured or killed, according to the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram.
“Texas law allows an individual, when they witness somebody placing others at risk of serious bodily injury or death, to act with deadly force to protect the other individuals,” Rodgers said. “Mr. Wilson did just that. He did it responsibly and, as a result, he was justified under the law in his actions.”
Two men were gunned down before Wilson drew his weapon and killed the assailant in an exchange that was caught on video. Wilson, who later wrote on Facebook that he “had to take out an active shooter,” was praised by local authorities for acting before more people were killed.
“Today, evil walked boldly among us,” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said at the time of the shooting. “But let me remind you, good people raised up and stopped it before it got worse.”
