Washington Post:

NASHVILLE — A gunman wearing a ski mask stormed into a Nashville-area church on Sunday, shooting seven people, including the pastor, before attacking a church usher who ultimately subdued him with a personal weapon, Nashville police said.

The shooting — which left a 39-year-old woman dead — occurred shortly before noon at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tenn., about 12 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. Police identified the shooter as Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25, of Tennessee, a Sudanese native who they said is a legal resident of the United States and apparently had attended worship services at the church in recent years. Police said Samson will be charged with murder and attempted murder.

Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said Samson drove up to the church and shot and killed a woman who was standing near her vehicle in the parking lot. The shooter — who police said was armed with two handguns — then entered the church through a rear door, shooting and wounding six people inside.

At some point, the gunman also pistol-whipped a church usher, causing “significant injuries” to the man, Aaron said. The usher, 22-year-old Robert “Caleb” Engle, confronted the gunman, police said, and during a struggle, Samson was wounded by a shot from his own gun. The usher then ran to his car and retrieved a handgun, police said.

Aaron said the usher ensured the gunman did not make any more movements until officers arrived. “It would appear he was not expecting to encounter a brave individual like the church usher,” Aaron said.

Police Chief Steve Anderson praised Engle for intervening: “We believe he is the hero today.”

Authorities on Sunday did not release a motive for the Antioch attack. But in a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville said it had opened a federal civil rights investigation.

“The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence,” said David W. Boling, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “As this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time.”

If I was the Sheriff I would have told the FBI to get the hell out of my jurisdiction and never come back or else they’ll face immediate arrest by my deputies.  But I’m not, and he won’t.

This is all very sad, and I’ve pointed out before that in church you are in the most vulnerable position you’ll likely ever face.  Your attention is focused in one place, likely with your back to the sole points of ingress and egress, you’re pinned in by physical features and people, you’re sitting (most of the time), and there is a significant volume of sound occurring that would mask any threats.

Don’t ever go to a worship service unarmed.  Don’t ever do that.  Please.  I don’t.  One of the saddest parts of the report involves the usher who had to go to his car to retrieve his handgun.  I don’t know the details and they may have been blessed in this particular instance that more people didn’t die.

It could have been that going to fisticuffs with the shooter stopped the gun fight and thus no more people died.  In that case, it was indeed a blessing.  It may not have occurred that way on another day, and it may not occur that way in your church.  The shooter should have been met with guns in his face as soon as he presented his weapon.  Going to the car to retrieve your gun isn’t the way to keep your family or friends safe.

Keep your head on a swivel and hand ready to present.