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Church Shooting Analysis Reports

A killer murdered two people during the morning service at West Freeway Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas December 29, 2019. He was about to kill a third person and probably more congregants when he was fatally shot in the skilled self-defense maneuver by Jack Wilson, a volunteer member of the church security team who undoubtedly saved many lives. The murderer’s six-second terror spree and the armed civilian’s rescue were video recorded. Here is a collection of links to resources examining the event to arrive at lessons learned for future self-defense and church security planning:

The 5 Elements of Self-Defense Law

Attorney Andrew Branca has distilled the laws in all 50 states that concern themselves with self-defense. He says, “There are at most 5 elements to any self-defense case (and often not even that many). That’s true in every one of the 50 states, and all US territories.” Be sure you adhere to them.

The 5 Elements of Self-Defense Law are:

Innocence
Imminence (ability, opportunity, jeopardy)
Proportionality
Avoidance
Reasonableness (subjective and objective)

Don’t Wait: Do

WWII US General George Patton gave a series of speeches to troops of the United States Third Army in 1944, prior to the Allied invasion of France. According to the article in Wikipedia, the speeches were intended to motivate the inexperienced Third Army for its pending combat duty. In the speeches, Patton urged his soldiers to do their duty regardless of personal fear, and he exhorted them to aggressiveness and constant offensive action. Here’s an excerpt:

“My men don’t dig foxholes. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. We’ll win this war, but we’ll win it only by fighting and showing the Germans that we’ve got more guts than they have or ever will have…. I don’t want any messages saying ‘I’m holding my position.’ We’re not holding a[ny]thing. We’re advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding anything…. Our plan of operation is to advance and keep on advancing….”

A Simple Chart for Situational Awareness

The late Col. Jeff Cooper’s observational “Color Code” has been taught for many years. He simplified situational awareness into four levels of escalating degrees of preparation for readiness to overcome any threat. This system is a mental process, not a physical one, and should be used at all times.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense ]

Col. Jeff Cooper's Situational Awareness Chart

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 5 Elements of Self-Defense Law ]

Read this article in full…

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