WHITE SETTLEMENT (1080 KRLD) - The Department of Public Safety has identified the gunman in Sunday morning’s shooting during worship services in a White Settlement Church.
It says Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43, of River Oaks was the one who shot and killed two parishioners who were standing alongside a side wall just as communion was wrapping up.
The victims are Richard White, 67, of River Oaks and Anton Wallace, 64, of Fort Worth.
White was a member of the church’s security team, while Wallace was a church deacon.
Since Sunday, investigators have been at Kinnunen’s house collecting evidence, trying to establish a motive for the murders.
“(It’s) probably going to be very difficult to determine exactly what his motivations were, other than maybe mental illness,” says Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “He didn't necessarily have a direct connection (to the church). He'd been here, I think, several times.
Kinnunen’s criminal record includes arrests for aggravated assault and property theft in Texas, as well as being in possession of an illegal firearm in New Jersey.
He also had an outstanding warrant out of Oklahoma.
The church had its own security force, in accordance with a law that was passed in the wake of the 2017 church massacre in Sutherland Springs, in which 12 people were killed.
“They did the right things, and I think they are the model for what other churches and other places of business need to focus on,” says Paxton. “We can't prevent every incident, we can't prevent mental illness from occurring, and we can't prevent every crazy person from pulling a gun. But we can be prepared like this church was.”
Paxton says while laws were put in place to help churches better react to shootings, it’s unlikely any laws would prevent shootings from happening there in the first place.
“Can we do more in the area of mental health and trying to address people that have problems and try to identify them before they do this? Yes, I think that's true,” says Paxton. “But is it possible to ever prevent every possible incident? I don't think anybody can do that.”
Meanwhile, the man who shot Kinnunen dead is being hailed a hero.
His name is Jack Wilson; and besides being a member of the West Freeway Church of Christ, he also heads the church’s security team.
While Paxton and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick call Wilson a hero, he doesn’t see himself as one.
“I took out some evil, and that's the way I'm processing it,” Wilson said from outside his home in Granbury. “I took out someone that was evil and had evil intent.”
Wilson says White, who was also a part of the church’s security team, had his gun drawn when Kinnunen opened fire.
“Richard and I were both, at that incident when he stood up the second time, drawing our guns,” Wilson says. “Richard ... got his gun out of the holster, according to the videos that I've seen, and I think he got a shot off ... as he was being hit, but it ... went into the wall.”
Wilson noted that he had his eye on Kinnunen throughout the service since he appeared to have been wearing a wig and a fake beard.
Wilson says when Kinnunen started opening fire, his law enforcement training kicked in.
“I had people in front of me. I had to wait until they got out of the line of fire because I didn't want to hit any of them,” Wilson said. “At that point, the shooter, I guess, caught it out the corner of his eye, because he was walking down towards the front of the church. He kind of halfway turned towards me, and that's when I took the shot.”
Wilson previously owned a firearms training business and is currently running for Hood County commissioner in the third precinct.