Wayne churchgoers credited with preventing mass shooting after gunman shows up to Sunday service

Wayne church shooting suspect killed by security guard

A security guard shot and killed a suspect who showed up to a Wayne church armed and wearing tactical gear. One person suffered a gunshot wound to the leg but is expected to survive.

WAYNE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Members of a Wayne church are being credited with stopping a gunman before anyone could be killed or seriously wounded.

Brian Browning, 31, of Romulus, was shot and killed by a security guard when he showed up at CrossPointe Community Church and started shooting Sunday morning.

Brian Browning

The backstory:

Police were called to the church on Glenwood just after 11 a.m. after a man driving an SUV erratically in the parking lot got out of his vehicle and started grabbing guns from the SUV. That man, later identified as Browning, was wearing camouflage and a tactical vest.

After Browning started shooting, a churchgoer hit him with a pickup truck in the parking lot as security was alerted about the situation. Members of the security team, who are also chuch members, locked the door and met Browning near the front door, where they exchanged gunfire with him. Browning was fatally shot during this encounter, while a member of security suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound to the leg.

"I started hearing ‘pop pop pop pop pop,’ and I just booked it to the bathroom, and I hid with another parishioner, and we heard footsteps running and a lot of gunshots," parishioner Wendy Bodin said. "We just stayed there until everything was quiet."

Dig deeper:

Police said Browning's mother is a member of CrossPointe Community Church, and he had attended services at the church several times in the past year.

According to police, he had AR-15 rifle with more than a dozen loaded magazines, as well as a handgun with an extended magazine and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

A search of his Romulus home turned up even more rifles and handguns, along with a large amount of ammunition, police said.

Browning has no criminal history, and may have been suffering from a mental health crisis. Police said there is no evidence connecting the shooting to violence in the Middle East, despite concerns it could be linked.

What they're saying:

Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong praised those at the church who jumped in to help stop Browning.

"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," he said.

The Source: A press release from Wayne police was used to report this story.