A Texas man described his efforts in taking down the man accused of opening fire inside a church on Sunday, slaughtering 26 people and injuring about 20 more in Sutherland Springs.
Johnnie Langendorff was driving past the First Baptist Church in the small rural town when he saw two men shooting at each other.
“I pulled up to the intersection where the shooting happened and I saw two men exchanging gunfire, the other being a citizen of the community,” Langendorff explained to San Antonio’s KSAT 12 News. “The shooter of the church had taken off, fled in his vehicle and the other gentleman came and said we need to pursue him, he just shot up the church.”
READ MORE: Pregnant woman and her 3 children among victims
Local authorities have yet to formally identify the gunman, but two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the alleged attacker to the Associated Press as Devin Kelley.
Authorities said Sunday the lone suspect was wearing black tactical gear and was armed with an assault weapon when he carried out the church massacre.
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“This suspect crossed the street to the church exited his vehicle and began firing at the church. The suspect then moved to the right side of the church and continued to fire,” Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety said at a press conference. “That suspect entered the church and continued to fire. As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle and fled from the church.”
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Langendorff said he just “acted” when told of the church shooting.
“And that’s what I did, got him off the road,” the man told KSAT 12 News.
Langendorff said they reached speeds of about 150 km/h during the pursuit which ended after the suspect lost control of his vehicle.
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READ MORE: First Baptist Church was a fixture in small Texas community of Sutherland Springs
Several weapons were found inside the vehicle and authorities said it was unclear if the attacker died of a self-inflicted wound or if he was shot by the resident who confronted him outside of the church.
When told more weapons were found in the suspect’s vehicle, Langendorff said he was just doing what he “thought was “the right thing.”
“I just, I did what I thought I needed to do,” Langendorff told reporters late Sunday.
Police were still searching for a motive Monday morning was to why the shooter launched the bloody rampage inside the church.
The massacre comes just over a month Stephen Paddock opened fire 32 floors above the Las Vegas Strip and killed 58 people at a music festival.
—with a file from the Associated Press
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