When mass shooting took place at a church in White Settlement, Texas, former FBI firearms instructor Jack Wilson rose to the occasion.
The attack came on December 29, 2019 while the worship service was in session. The church live streams their services each week for those that can’t make it in. The video is shocking and graphic.
Fearless in the Face of Danger
In the beginning, you see what you would expect to see — congregants gathering for their weekly service. Suddenly, you see a disheveled man pull out a gun, and shoot two volunteer security officers in the back of the church at close range. What happened in the next few seconds is truly the stuff of heroes.
Jack Wilson was the third volunteer security guard standing in the back of the church the furthest away from the shooter. Without any hesitation, he pulled out his firearm, and in one shot to the head took down the attacker. It was a clean shot, and one that he had to consider quickly and carefully with all the people in the pews starting to stand up. The chaos and devastation of the moment echoes throughout the holy space in the screams of the parishioners.
Jack Wilson: A Hero in Six Seconds
If Jack hadn’t been in the position and had the superior shooting skills as a firearm instructor and gun range owner, who knows how many people the shooter would have killed? It took Jack all of six seconds to make the decision, pull out his gun from the holster, and end the violence the church was facing that day from evil.
That’s how Jack described what he did in interviews after it happened, he said “I killed evil.” He’s processing what happened by thinking about the fact that “I don’t feel like I killed an individual.” In reality, he stopped a very dangerous person from doing even more damage.
A Little More About Jack Wilson
Jack Wilson is a 71-year-old former reserve deputy of the sheriff’s department in that small Texas town. He was also a local business owner. Now that he’s retired, he has time to volunteer as a security guard at the church he attends in White Settlement, the West Freeway Church of Christ. It’s a small, but tight-knit community of 18,000 people.
In his family life, Jack has been married for 51 years, is the father of three daughters, has ten grandchildren, and even one great-grandchild.
A Mention From the President
President Donald Trump praised Jack in a tweet following the attack. It’s lucky that Texas is one of the states that allows people in churches to carry their firearms. Most states don’t allow concealed carry in churches or other places of worship.
Even though Jack says he was just doing “what he was trained to do,” it’s still makes everyone involved thankful that someone, who was so expertly trained in shooting, was there at the church that day.
