Suspect fatally shot by a security guard after Michigan church shooting, authorities say
DETROIT — One person was killed and another was injured in a shooting at a suburban Detroit church on June 22, authorities said.
The City of Wayne Police Department said in a Facebook post that a shooting took place at CrossPointe Community Church at about 11 a.m. on June 22 and that responding officers determined that a security guard for the church shot and killed the suspect. "One victim was shot in the leg. Please avoid the area. Officers are still actively investigating," the post added.
The police department described the suspect as a "31-year-old white male" in an email to USA TODAY.
Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ reported that the suspect was on his way to the church when another person tried to stop him with their truck. When he opened fire on the truck, the security guard intervened, according to the station.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on X that the bureau has sent leadership and support teams to Wayne.
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Brendan Henzel, 21, said he was attending services at the church when the shooting occurred. He said the shooter shot the security guard in the knee before the guard killed him, and the guard was rushed to the hospital.
"I was confused what was going on," Henzel said to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, while he stood near the church in the hours after the shooting took place. "I heard 'Boom, boom, pow' and next thing I knew I was running."
A livestream of the church service, which appears to have been taken down from the church's website but was captured by news outlets, shows parishioners, many of them children, sitting in the pews when the reported shooting takes place. Attendees are then seen ducking under their chairs or running away.
A woman at one point yells: "Everybody to the back. Please, everybody, come to the back."
The church was cordoned off with police tape Sunday afternoon, as police from various agencies investigated.
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