Security guard fatally shoots Michigan church assailant, police say

A security guard fatally shot an assailant who opened fire in a Michigan church filled with children that was hosting its vacation Bible school on Sunday, officials said.

The Wayne Police Department said on social media that officers had responded to a report of a shooting at CrossPointe Community Church, which is about 25 miles west of Detroit.

After they arrived, officers found that a security guard had fatally shot the assailant. One victim was shot in the leg, police said.

Andy Pugh, one of the pastors at the church, said that he was unaware of any threats to the church leading up to the shooting.

A livestream of the church service, which has since been taken down, showed a stage set up to look like a campsite on a lakeshore.

The livestream shows a crowd of at least 20 people, including many children, mill about after the presentation concludes when suddenly shouting can be heard as people start lying down behind seats and running.

A woman tells people to "come to the back," and someone can be heard yelling "go, go, go" as dozens of people rush in the same direction. After the initial burst of action, more than a dozen other people walk in the same direction.

Pugh said the stage was full of children at the time of the shooting as the church was hosting its vacation Bible school.

"Thankfully we were able to get everyone out," he said.

The church's pastor, Bobby Kelly, and a few of its members appeared weary as they left a community center where the police had transported attendees in buses after the shooting.

Kelly declined to comment, saying only that church members were "worn out." "It's been a long day," he added.

Jason Suchan, 50, who lives down the road from the church, rode his bike to get there after his Ring camera app alerted him to the shooting.

"State police cars were coming down the road at super high speed, and there was an ambulance flying away," he said in a phone interview Sunday.

Suchan is not a member of the congregation, but he said he had grown up hanging out at the church, running around on its roof and playing hockey in its gym. "No one even thought of having security," he said.

He noted that things could have been worse Sunday because the church had been doing some outdoor services, including one as recently as last Sunday. "Imagine if they had been outside," he said.