Texas Church Shooting: 5 Facts About The 43-Year-Old Shooter, Keith Thomas Kinnunen

On 29th December, three people were killed after a shooting took place at the West Freeway Church of Christ located in White Settlement, Texas, of which one was the shooter himself. The deceased gunman has been identified as 43-year-old River Oaks, Texas, resident Keith Thomas Kinnunen, who had a criminal record in several states which included convictions for illegal gun possession, assault, and domestic violence.

“The apparently homeless gunman who killed two worshipers Sunday had been helped with food on several occasions by the West Freeway church, but he became angry when they wouldn’t give him money, minister Britt Farmer told me. He wasn’t recognized Sunday because he wore disguises,” Bobby Ross Jr., the editor of The Christian Chronicle, tweeted.

1. Keith Kinnunen had a criminal record spanning different states and was described by his ex-wife as a “Religious Fanatic”

The deceased gunman has a criminal record in most of the places he has lived in- Medina Country, Tuscan- since his birth in Kansas on November 26, 1976. He was a boxer in 2004 while living in Fort Worth, Texas. Before that, he was arrested multiple times in Tuscan for multiple charges like carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, disorderly conduct, assault, etc. He also married a 34-year-old woman in 1996, who later sought a restraining order against Kinnunen.

“Keith is a violent, paranoid person with a long line of assault and batteries with and without firearms. He is a religious fanatic, says he’s battling a demon. He is not nice to anyone,” his ex-wife wrote in the documents for the domestic assault case she filed against him.

2. As per witnesses at the church, Kinnunen was wearing a fake beard and trench coat to disguise his identity

Daughter of Tony Wallace, one of the victims of Kinnunen, Tiffany Wallace described him as a white man, wearing a trench coat and sporting a fake beard and black hair. Jack Wilson, the head of the church’s security team, shared that he found Kinnunen suspicious from the moment he entered the church as he had noticed he was wearing a wig and fake beard and had on a long coat. “We had cameras turned on him,” Wilson said.

3. It was Jack Wilson who brought down Kinnunen with a single shot

As soon as Kinnunen started firing, the Church security subdued him and Wilson drew his weapons and “took out the killer immediately, saving an untold number of lives.” Wilson is the President of On Target Firearms Academy and shared that he took the instant decision as he didn’t want to “allow evil to succeed.”

4. Kinnunen was also arrested in 2016 when he was caught taking photos of an oil refinery while armed with a shotgun in New Jersey

He was caught photographing an oil tank field at the Phillips 66 refinery. When the police questioned him he responded by saying that he was homeless and liked taking photos while travelling around the country.

5. As earlier mentioned, Kinnunen has been arrested multiple times in the past, which included cases of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and theft

He was arrested in Fort Worth twice- once for aggravated assault in 2008 and then in 2013, he was charged with misdemeanour theft of property valued between $50 to $500.