My Observation on the White Settlement Church Shooting Video

This is my opinion and observation of the video of the White Settlement Church shooting in Texas that happened on December 29, 2019. The action happens so quickly and there's so much going on that it's easy to miss a lot of the details. If you choose to watch the video, it is graphic.

First, let me say this, I wasn't in, nor have I ever been in a situation like this so it's obviously an armchair quarterback scenario. Second, when I make criticisms on this event, it is no way meant to demean anyone involved.

With all of that being said, let's walk through what happens. The killer walks over to an usher and seems to ask him a question. The usher appears to point toward the back of the room and that's when the killer pulls what appears to be a cruiser style shotgun. No butt stock, just a pistol grip. If you watch frame by frame, several church members notice what's happening and start to react. One member stands and begins a single handed draw with what appears to be small of the back carry. For a full 3 seconds, he fails to draw his firearm from a stationary position, and is shot by the killer. By this time, the member who eventually shoots the killer has begun his draw from the 4 o'clock carry position. The killer fires a second shot at the man he asked the question to, turns toward the pastor, and begins walking. The man who shoots the killer takes aim and fires a single round into the killer's head, killing him instantly. Whether it's from the brain sending a final blast to all the muscles in the body (a common thing in sudden traumatic brain injuries) or sheer coincidence, the killer fires a shot at exactly the same time he is hit.

Here's my take. The man who stands and is hit first, while heroic, died because he couldn't make a clean draw and was also a stationary target. He had a full 3 seconds before the killer pulled the trigger. You have to be able to draw cleanly. If you you've never trained on how to draw please, PLEASE get some training and practice your draw! When I train, I'm always moving. Being stationary will get you killed as shown in this video.

Next, fight or flight is a myth. When the first shot boomed, almost everyone in the church FROZE. It's what we do when something scary happens, we freeze to assess the situation. People would've begun running eventually but as seen, gunfights are over in seconds.

Never point your gun at anything you're not willing to kill or destroy. Once the shooting is over, 2 more members with guns come into the bottom of the screen and POINT THEIR GUNS AT EVERYONE! They muzzle sweep dozens of innocent people in an adrenaline fueled, dangerous situation. Get more training! You have to have the self-control not to make the situation worse.

This video shows why training is so important and reinforces all of the techniques you should be learning if you choose to carry a firearm. Safety, situational awareness, the draw, moving, communicating, shooting if necessary. Also, if you have a church "security team" and you don't train, please re-evaluate. 2 members of this church could've made the situation much worse.

If you have any questions about training, please message me. I've said it before and I'll say it now, it doesn't have to be with me, but please get some training if you never have. Lives depend on it.