Local Men Confronted and Tracked Texas Church Shooter After Deadly Attack

Two men, one armed, engaged in a high-speed car chase to pursue the attacker fleeing the scene.

November 6, 2017 8:54 am
mass shooter
TOPSHOT - Police block a road in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on November 5, 2017, after a mass shooting at the the First Baptist Church (rear). A gunman went into the church during Sunday morning services and shot dead some two dozen worshippers, the sheriff said, in the latest mass shooting to shock the US. "Approximately 25 people" were dead, including the shooter, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told NBC News. At least 10 people were wounded. The motive was not immediately known, he added. / AFP PHOTO / SUZANNE CORDEIRO (Photo credit should read SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images)

On Sunday morning, a man walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and killed 26 people. My San Antonio says that while emergency responders rushed to the scene, two local men saw the assailant escaping and tried to engage him as he fled the scene.

Johnny Langendorff told KSAT in a television interview that he pulled up to an intersection where the shooter—26-year-old Devin Kelley from Comal County, Texas—and another local were shooting at each other. Kelley then left church grounds in his vehicle, while the other man ran up to Langendorff’s car.

“The other gentleman said we needed to pursue (the shooter) because he shot up the church,” Langendorff said. “So that’s what I did. I just acted.”

The duo pursued Kelley in Langendorff’s car for a few miles to the Guadalupe county line—sometimes at speeds up to 95 m.p.h—where the shooter lost control of his vehicle and ran off the roadway. The other man who was in the car with Langendorff then jumped out and drew his rifle on Kelley.

“(Kelley) didn’t move after that,” Langendorff said. 

Langendorff and the other man were able to guide authorities to the scene, who arrived roughly five to seven minutes later. At that point, the shooter was found dead in his car, though it is not immediately clear how he died.

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