LAKELAND, Fla. — A gunman killed his wife at their home and then burst through the front door of a nearby church Sunday, wounding a pastor and an associate pastor before parishioners tackled him, authorities and relatives said.
The suspect, 57-year-old Jeremiah Fogle, killed one person at a home about a block away from the church before shooting the pastors, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. The two men, pastor William Boss and associate pastor Carl Stewart, were in critical condition. No other church members were hurt.
Maria Beauford said the slain woman was her sister, 56- year-old Theresa Fogle. The Fogles married in 2002 and ran a transportation business together. They had been members of Greater Faith Christian Center Church, where the shootings happened, but had started their own ministry out of their house and regularly hosted Sunday services, Beauford said.
Beauford said she had never known Jeremiah Fogle to be violent toward her sister. He had been sick over the past year and had back surgery, and Theresa Fogle nursed him back to health, Beauford said. She said her brother-in-law was always smiling at family gatherings.
“We have no idea what his motive was,” she said. “We just have no idea.”
Authorities said Jeremiah Fogle ran through the doors of the Greater Faith Christian Church after a morning service had wrapped up and just before another daily service. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
Neighbors said they often saw Fogle outside with his wife, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds.
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