After rampaging through First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a lone gunman prepared to shoot and kill yet another innocent victim – until local hero Stephen Willeford stepped in to stop the carnage.
It’s impossible to say how many lives Willeford saved that day, but one thing is certain according to reports, he saved the life of Farida Brown, the shooter’s next target.
As she held the hand of the person lying next to her who had been shot four times, Brown realized the killer was looking at her next.
A testimony of blessed assurance. “As he fired rounds into the woman, Farida Brown held her hand, telling her she was heading to heaven.” https://t.co/ebm1rNZKqU
— Jon Denney ن (@jon_denney) November 7, 2017
“She thought that it was her turn,” David Brown, her son, told The Washington Post. “She just started praying.”
Prayers were answered in the form of a neighbor and former NRA instructor, Stephen Willeford, who had grabbed his own rifle and ran out of the house barefoot upon hearing of the shooting.
“Willeford hit Kelley at least once, authorities said,” according to the Post report. “Kelley then dropped his rifle, jumped in his Ford Expedition SUV and fled.”
#URaPOS
“Farida Brown had sustained only shots to her legs
But as the shooter fired into the woman next to her, she prepared to be slain
At that moment, she heard a shot fired from a different man, at the front door
The other man was Stephen Willeford, who lives near the church” https://t.co/fDMy3OULqK— PolAgnostic (@PolAgnostic) November 8, 2017
Brown had survived. Willeford had struck him in the leg and torso with his own shots, providing just enough of a distraction for Brown to live, and enough of a threat to force the shooter to flee the scene.
To those saying Stephen Willeford did not stop the shooter until after he’d finished his attack, you’re wrong. https://t.co/DC78uwDxRo
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) November 7, 2017
“He saw me, and I saw him,” Willeford explained. He regretted deeply that he was unable to get to the church sooner, but it should not diminish the number of lives he saved – a good guy with a gun – including the life of Farida Brown.
Eventually the killer crashed his SUV and succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
If it wasn’t for Willeford, even that last bullet could have taken the life of another innocent person.
Like and share this post to share hero Stephen Willeford’s story and celebrate the life of Farida Brown!
