A frame from a live stream during a church shooting in Texas on 12/29/2019.
Over the past few years, the International Foundation for Protection Officers has published several posts about security at places of worship. Once thought to be no-go zones for violence, there appears, at least anecdotally, to be an increase in their frequency.
-- In 2017, we reported on a new Texas law to make hiring church security more affordable.
-- Also in 2017, we curated a story titled, Layered Security Approach for Churches by Keith Shaver, originally posted on WorshipFacilities.com.
-- In October, 2019, the Independent Security Advisors House of Worship Security Program announced that its coexist scholarship available to House of Worship Safety and Security volunteers and employees. Each $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to verified security personal to attend any ISA training course for the remainder of 2019 and through 2020.
In an article on the Rave Mobile Safety website, the point is made that places of worship spend more money on choir training than security. The most recent case on Sunday in Texas, may serve as an example of the reality of worship violence and the effectiveness of having an armed security force at the ready.
From numerous reports, it appears a gunman walked into the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, drew a shotgun and opened fire, killing two congregants, one of whom was a church security officer.
DailyMail.com has the story on the two men, one a former FBI agent, who returned fire at the gunman:
By LAUREN FRUEN and VALERIE EDWARDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS, DailyMail.com
'The heroism today is unparalleled. This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over', said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also hailed the state's gun laws.
He added: 'Two of the parishioners who were volunteers of the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives.'
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