Latest news with #CrossPointeCommunity
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- The Guardian
Michigan deacon thwarted attack on church by ramming truck into shooter
A Michigan church deacon who had a hand in thwarting a rifle-wielding man's attempts to shoot worshippers at a service in June by ramming the attacker with his truck says he sprang into action because waiting for first responders' help was not feasible. 'I'm just realizing there's no time,' Richard Pryor – who drew gunfire while protecting the congregation of CrossPointe Community church in Wayne, Michigan – said during a recent Associated Press interview in which he revisited his state of mind that day. 'I didn't have a weapon on me, in the truck or anything, so what are your options?' Pryor detailed his thinking from the day his church and its members probably came close to being shot up as many across Wayne and beyond have lavished him with praise, exalting his courage as well as calling him a hero. He has not been entirely comfortable with the spotlight the US media has since shined on him. 'It's more than I anticipated – that's for sure,' Pryor told the Michigan news station WXYZ while appearing at a local car dealership which leased him a new truck free of charge to replace the one he damaged when his church was targeted for violence on 22 June. 'Hopefully, I can go back into hiding after this … We'll see.' Nonetheless, what Pryor has been willing to share about his experience on the day he intervened on behalf of his fellow worshippers makes clear the role he had in ensuring – as he put it – 'the attacker's intended tragedy did not occur'. Investigators believe 31-year-old Brian Anthony Browning was grappling with a mental health crisis when he equipped himself with a tactical vest, a handgun and a rifle and drove to CrossPointe, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Detroit. Pryor said he was running late and ended up watching as the man later identified as Browning drove dangerously in the church parking lot, stepped out of his car and began firing, wounding one person in the leg. The deacon called law enforcement on his cellphone and began relaying the scene to an emergency operator when Browning – whom Pryor did not know – kept advancing toward the church doors. Pryor at that point decided to aim his 2018 Ford F-150 pickup at Browning and ram him. Pryor struck him with his F-150, despite taking multiple shots to his vehicle, officials said. That action temporarily stopped the shooter. At least two members of an armed security team that CrossPointe launched in response to violence at other places of worship soon approached. The security staffers then fatally shot Browning, whose mother was a CrossPointe congregant but was not there that Sunday. More than 100 congregants were inside the church, where children attending Bible school led that day's service. After a security team member came in and directed everyone in the church to get out, a livestream video of the service recorded congregants carrying children away – or pleading with them to take cover or retreat. Pryor, reflecting on the distressing sequence of events, said he took a measure of comfort in the fact that evidently 'a lot of people did not see what happened and weren't [immediately] aware of what was going on'. 'Trauma is trauma, but thankfully ours is not trauma over loss of life,' Pryor told the AP. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion CrossPointe's pastor, Bobby Kelly, attributed that reality to Pryor, saying: 'He hit this individual … and that certainly helped the team to be able to respond.' All of which motivated the owner of Wayne's Jack Demmer Ford dealership to give Pryor a free, two-year lease valued at $70,000 for a 2025 F-150 to replace the truck that was hit by multiple bullets as the deacon defended his church. The dealership owner, Matthew Demmer, said Pryor's new truck was 'the best way to give back', a token of recognition for how 'it could have been a heck of a lot worse'. As Pryor was handed the key fob to the new truck on 10 July, he declared himself 'very grateful – very thankful'. Yet Demmer told WXYZ that Pryor privately maintained in an almost 'standoffish' way that he didn't deserve the truck. The Associated Press contributed reporting
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- The Guardian
Michigan deacon thwarted attack on church by ramming truck into shooter
A Michigan church deacon who had a hand in thwarting a rifle-wielding man's attempts to shoot worshippers at a service in June by ramming the attacker with his truck says he sprang into action because waiting for first responders' help was not feasible. 'I'm just realizing there's no time,' Richard Pryor – who drew gunfire while protecting the congregation of CrossPointe Community church in Wayne, Michigan – said during a recent Associated Press interview in which he revisited his state of mind that day. 'I didn't have a weapon on me, in the truck or anything, so what are your options?' Pryor detailed his thinking from the day his church and its members probably came close to being shot up as many across Wayne and beyond have lavished him with praise, exalting his courage as well as calling him a hero. He has not been entirely comfortable with the spotlight the US media has since shined on him. 'It's more than I anticipated – that's for sure,' Pryor told the Michigan news station WXYZ while appearing at a local car dealership which leased him a new truck free of charge to replace the one he damaged when his church was targeted for violence on 22 June. 'Hopefully, I can go back into hiding after this … We'll see.' Nonetheless, what Pryor has been willing to share about his experience on the day he intervened on behalf of his fellow worshippers makes clear the role he had in ensuring – as he put it – 'the attacker's intended tragedy did not occur'. Investigators believe 31-year-old Brian Anthony Browning was grappling with a mental health crisis when he equipped himself with a tactical vest, a handgun and a rifle and drove to CrossPointe, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Detroit. Pryor said he was running late and ended up watching as the man later identified as Browning drove dangerously in the church parking lot, stepped out of his car and began firing, wounding one person in the leg. The deacon called law enforcement on his cellphone and began relaying the scene to an emergency operator when Browning – whom Pryor did not know – kept advancing toward the church doors. Pryor at that point decided to aim his 2018 Ford F-150 pickup at Browning and ram him. Pryor struck him with his F-150, despite taking multiple shots to his vehicle, officials said. That action temporarily stopped the shooter. At least two members of an armed security team that CrossPointe launched in response to violence at other places of worship soon approached. The security staffers then fatally shot Browning, whose mother was a CrossPointe congregant but was not there that Sunday. More than 100 congregants were inside the church, where children attending Bible school led that day's service. After a security team member came in and directed everyone in the church to get out, a livestream video of the service recorded congregants carrying children away – or pleading with them to take cover or retreat. Pryor, reflecting on the distressing sequence of events, said he took a measure of comfort in the fact that evidently 'a lot of people did not see what happened and weren't [immediately] aware of what was going on'. 'Trauma is trauma, but thankfully ours is not trauma over loss of life,' Pryor told the AP. CrossPointe's pastor, Bobby Kelly, attributed that reality to Pryor, saying: 'He hit this individual … and that certainly helped the team to be able to respond.' All of which motivated the owner of Wayne's Jack Demmer Ford dealership to give Pryor a free, two-year lease valued at $70,000 for a 2025 F-150 to replace the truck that was hit by multiple bullets as the deacon defended his church. The dealership owner, Matthew Demmer, said Pryor's new truck was 'the best way to give back', a token of recognition for how 'it could have been a heck of a lot worse'. As Pryor was handed the key fob to the new truck on 10 July, he declared himself 'very grateful – very thankful'. Yet Demmer told WXYZ that Pryor privately maintained in an almost 'standoffish' way that he didn't deserve the truck. The Associated Press contributed reporting
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- The Guardian
Gunman fatally shot at Michigan church had attended services in past year
The man who opened fire outside a Michigan church filled with worshippers before he was struck by a vehicle and then fatally shot by security staff had attended services there a couple of times in the last year and his mother is a member, police said. The gunman, identified as Brian Anthony Browning, 31, did not have any previous contacts with local police or a criminal history, but may have been suffering a mental health crisis, the Wayne police department said in a news release. Churchgoers attending a Sunday morning service at CrossPointe Community church in Wayne spotted the gunman driving recklessly and then saw him exit his car wearing a tactical vest and carrying a rifle and a handgun, the police chief, Ryan Strong, said at an evening news conference. The man began firing as he approached the church, striking one person in the leg. A parishioner driving a pickup truck hit the man and the church security team locked the front doors and exchanged gunfire with the man, police said. At least two staff members shot him, Strong said. About 150 people were inside the church at the time. '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,' the chief said. The shooting occurred in Wayne, a city of about 17,000 people located about 25 miles (40km) west of Detroit. One member of the security team was shot in the leg and was listed in stable condition at a hospital after undergoing surgery, the news release said. No one else was hurt. Police executing a search warrant at Browning's home in Romulus, about 5 miles south of Wayne, found additional rifles, several more handguns and a large amount of ammunition, the news release said. Browning's mother did not respond to a Facebook message sent on Sunday by the Associated Press. Worshipper Wendy Bodin said she heard a loud 'boom' and when she looked outside, she saw a man sprawled out on the grass in front of the church. 'I thought he got hit or crashed his car or was hurt,' Bodin told WXYZ-TV. 'And another lady saw and pointed to me and said, 'Oh my, call 911!'' The deputy chief of Wayne police, Finley Carter III, said hours later that it was too early to know a motive. The FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, said on X that bureau 'leadership and support teams' were at the church and helping with the investigation. Messages left by the AP on Sunday on voicemail and a Facebook page for the church were not immediately returned.
