MARYVILLE, Ill. — A pastor who was shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman’s four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said.
The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church just after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with the Rev. Fred Winters. He then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said.
Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the floor as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other people, Trent said.
Authorities didn’t know whether Winters, a married father of two who had led the church for nearly 22 years, knew the gunman. Police described the gunman as a 27- year-old from nearby Troy but would not release his name pending possible charges.
Late Sunday afternoon, police removed gun cases and a computer from a home in Troy. Officials would not comment at the scene, but vehicle records show that the home, about 2 miles from First Baptist, is the address of Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, and his mother, who co-own a Jeep Wrangler that was parked outside the crime scene.
Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said earlier in the day that the vehicle was believed to have been used by the attacker.
Trent said investigators had not immediately uncovered evidence that the gunman had a criminal background or mental illness.
None of about 150 congregants appeared to recognize the gunman. Investigators did not know details of Winters’ conversation with him, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service, Trent said. The service was not videotaped.
“We thought it was part of a drama skit . . . when he shot, what you saw was confetti,” said congregant Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the church. “We just sat there waiting for what comes next, not realizing that he had wounded the pastor.”
Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary’s side aisle before collapsing, Cunningham said.
Two congregants tackled the gunman as he pulled a 4-inch knife, and all three were stabbed, police said. The gunman suffered “a pretty serious wound to the neck” while one congregant had lower-back wounds, Trent said.
Congregants knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said church member Don Bohley.
The gunman and 39-year-old congregant Terry Bullard underwent surgery at St. Louis University Hospital and were in serious condition Sunday evening, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. The other victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released from Gateway Regional Medical Center.
“I would call it heroic,” Trent said. “While many understandably were stuck to their seats, they took to action.”
First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987. It now has about 1,200 members, according to the church’s website.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
