Attempted Michigan Church mass shooting thwarted

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An active shooter was killed by a security guard at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne on June 22, according to police. At least one other person was injured.

The Wayne Police Department said in a Facebook post that it responded to an active shooter at CrossPointe Church in Wayne on Sunday morning.

"Upon arrival, officers determined that a security guard for the church shot and killed the suspect," the post said. "One victim was shot in the leg. Please avoid the area. Officers are still actively investigating."

Wayne Police Deputy Chief Finley Carter III said in an email that the suspect was a 31-year-old male. He said the investigation is ongoing with multiple agencies on scene.

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 the parishioners when the shooting takes place. The church attendees, many of which are children, are sitting in front of a backdrop of what appears to be a campsite in front of a lake. There's shouting, and then attendees duck under their chairs. A woman yells, "Everybody to the back. Please, everybody come to the back."

A man who was shot dead by a security guard Sunday after he opened fire outside a Michigan church during a service has been identified as a 31-year-old who attended the church with his mother.

Brian Anthony Browning, of Romulus, was armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle with more than a dozen magazines of ammunition, a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, Wayne police said in a statement.

"The suspect’s mother is a member of the church, where he has attended church services two or three times over the last year," the statement said.

Police said their ongoing investigation suggests "he may have been suffering a mental health crisis" and that he had no previous contact with law enforcement officers.

Browning referred to the church at least twice on his Facebook account, but it was unclear exactly what prompted his actions.

Police were first called to CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, a western suburb of Detroit, at 11:06 a.m. for reports of a white man wearing camouflage gear and a tactical vest. A witness said he was driving a silver SUV "erratically" in the parking lot.

Minutes later, further 911 calls said the gunman fired a weapon before a person driving a pickup truck hit him with his vehicle.

Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr. said he initially thought someone outside was using a jackhammer.

“We weren’t thinking that those were shots until one of our security came in and told us to get out, that’s when [we] began exiting the building," he said.

Kelly said a member of his church ran the shooter down in his car before the gunman could reach the building's front door. The church's security team then "engaged" him, Kelly said, and several rounds were fired.

"He was only a few feet from the front of the church," he said.

The Wayne Police Department said the gunman was fatally shot by a member of the security team.

A member of that team was shot twice in the leg and sustained a "non-life-threatening" injury, the department said. Police said he was stable in a local hospital, having undergone successful surgery Sunday night.

Officers gave lifesaving treatment to the suspect, but Wayne Fire Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police searched Browning's home and found even more weaponry, including rifles, semi-automatic handguns and a large amount of ammunition.

The recording of an internet livestream of the church service, which shows people ducking and running out of the room, is genuine, police said.

“We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church’s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,” Police Chief Ryan Strong said Sunday at a news conference.

Kelly said he'd seen the gunman a couple of times before. When Browning's mother was baptized, the pastor said he met with the gunman, who "had some concerns but it wasn't anything violent. It was really about scripture and when we finished speaking, we were actually in agreement."

"I saw him one more time after that in our church, and he was in a good mood," Kelly added. "He actually thought the message was very positive. That was back in February."

Kelly said he's spoken to Browning's mother, whom he described as "pretty distraught."

"We don't hold anything against her," he said.

I'm happy the security guard was there. Still, that says something about a church even needing a security guard in these times!