One woman was killed and seven others injured in a shooting at a Tennessee church on Sunday.
It could’ve been much worse if it wasn’t for 22-year-old Robert Engle, who confronted the shooter in the church. After getting pistol whipped, he managed to run out of the church alive. Most would’ve been happy to have escaped alive and called 911. Engle, however, decided to do something much different: he went to his car, retrieved a weapon, and headed back in to the church.
The alleged shooter has been identified as 25-year-old former churchgoer Emanuel Kidega Samson, Fox News reported.
Gunman in church shooting is Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25. He has been released from hospital and will be charged with murder and att murder. pic.twitter.com/VuCUgJ3JIQ
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) September 24, 2017
Samson was wearing a mask when he opened fire on the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, southwest of Nashville, just after 11 a.m. He was carrying two pistols when he entered the church, police said.
He was wounded and later released from the hospital.
Samson will be charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department tweeted. Federal officials will also be initiating a civil rights investigation in the shooting, which occurred at a predominately white church.
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Samson is a legal U.S. resident who immigrated from Sudan in 1996, authorities said.
Churchgoers recognized Samson as a former attendee but said he hadn’t attended services in “quite a while.”
Gunman opens fire at Church of Christ Burnette Chapel on Pin Hook Road. 1 woman dead in parking lot…6 other innocents shot… pic.twitter.com/yuwjfGPjXs
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) September 24, 2017
Police identified the woman who died in the shooting as 39-year-old Melanie Smith of Smyrna.
The injured victims were being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Skyline Medical Center and ranged in age from 22 to 84.
Enter the 22-year-old Engle, who was serving as an usher when he confronted the gunman. He was pistol-whipped, which caused “significant injury around his head.
Police hailed Engle a hero after he went to his car after the confrontation, grabbed a pistol and headed back into the church.
Details from Fox News:
Engle “physically engaged” with Samson, investigators added. Ultimately the suspect was shot, and Engle suffered a “significant injury around his head” after being pistol-whipped.
Engle then ran to his car, grabbed a gun, and held the gunman at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived, witnesses said.
Later in the day, he released a statement rejecting the “hero” label, adding: “The real heroes are the police, first responders and medical staff and doctors who have helped me and everyone affected.”
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said of Engle: “He’s the person who stopped this madness.”
Engle’s grandmother, Rheta, told the Tennessean that she’s proud of her grandson Robert.
“That’s like him. He’s just someone who cares about a lot of people. He has all their feelings at heart,” Rheta Engle said. “It would make any parent, grandparent very, very proud of him.”
A friend of Robert’s added that his friend is a “great guy. Just one of the kindest human beings you’ll ever meet.”
Metropolitan Nashville Police said Engle was being treated at Skyline Medical Center after Sunday’s shooting.
No one knows how they will respond in a life or death situation until they are faced with one. We can only hope to be as courageous and brave as this young man. Continued prayers for his recovery and for those who lost loved ones in yet another senseless mass murder.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam issued a statement, saying that he and his wife, Crissy were praying for the victims of the shooting and their loved ones.
(H/T: Fox News)