The gunman from the shooting at West Freeway Church of Christ was identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, a 43-year-old male from River Oaks, Texas, with a long criminal record.
A security volunteer killed Kinnunen after he opened fire and killed two during a church service on Sunday morning. Kinnunen had several previous felonies on his record, including charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon from 2009 and theft in 2013.
He was also charged with possession of an illegal weapon in New Jersey after he was spotted surveilling an oil refinery with a 12-gauge shotgun by authorities. Kinnunen had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Oklahoma at the time of the incident. He claimed he was homeless at the time of the New Jersey arrest, but acknowledged that he was from Texas. The FBI noted that he had been “relatively transient” for the past several years.
Additionally, Kinnunen had two arrests from 2009 and 2015 for unpaid traffic tickets in the state of Texas.
.@TxDPS: #Texas church gunman identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43, of #RiverOaks. pic.twitter.com/PpQbXyP0O7
— domingo ramirez jr. (@mingoramirezjr) December 30, 2019
Authorities explained that Kinnunen was wearing a disguise at the time of the church shooting, including a fake beard. He had smuggled the gun into the church underneath his clothing.
Kinnunen died after Jack Wilson, 71, returned fire, killing him moments after he started shooting. Two others died in the attack, including Anton Wallace, 64, and Richard White, 67. Wilson expressed his sorrow with the situation in a Facebook post, writing, “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.”
The FBI is investigating Kinnunen and has yet to disclose his motive to the public.
