Mourners Gather To Honor Texas Church Shooting Victim Richard White
TEMPLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Family and friends gathered to bid farewell to a man who showed selfless bravery Sunday morning when a gunman entered the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement.
They waited patiently as a hearse carrying Richard White's body arrived at Western Hills Church of Christ.
White was a member of the security team for West Freeway Church of Christ. He was one of two men killed, shot at close range by gunman
Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43.
Anton Wallace, 64, of Fort Worth was also killed.
Security was tight at White's memorial service. Fort Worth police officers were on hand, and Governor Greg Abbott spoke during the service.
"Their faith is sustaining them. The scripture on the front of the funeral program is "greater love hath no man than he who would give up his life for his brother" and Sunday morning that's exactly what Richard and Tony did."
White was a sales manager at Thankheads Inc., a manufacturing company, according to his Facebook page.
On Facebook Monday, his daughter-in-law expressed the family's pain and called him "a true hero."
"You were taken from us yesterday in a senseless act of violence," Misty York White wrote. "You stood up against evil and sacrificed your life. Many lives were saved because of your actions."
White was an avid golfer. Friends and family jokingly called him John Wayne because he was said to have the look of a classic cowboy.
A former reserve deputy sheriff running for local office, Jack Wilson, is credited with gunning down Kinnunen in the church after he shot White and Wallace.
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Kinnunen, who officials said was possibly "transient," has a criminal history including assault and unlawful possession of a weapon. New Jersey news outlet NJ.com reported that Kinnunen was arrested near an oil tank field in Linden after he was found with a shotgun in 2016. He told police he was homeless.
He was also found to have had arrest warrants out of Oklahoma for aggravated assault.
In River Oaks, Kinnunen was arrested twice in 2009 and 2015 for unpaid tickets. He also has arrests for deadly conduct and theft out of Fort Worth.
Parishioners at the White Settlement church said they were were suspicious of Kinnunen after he entered the service Sunday wearing what looked like a "fake" beard and wig. A witness said she felt uncomfortable sitting near him during the service.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting and are looking for a possible motive.