Wayne church security guard who killed gunman: 'We cannot let the devil stop us'

Man who shot church gunman: "We cannot let the devil stop us"

The gunman, who was dressed in tactical gear and armed with what sounded like a modified automatic rifle, was run down on purpose by a churchgoer who was late for the service that morning.

WAYNE, Mich. (FOX 2) - The security guard who shot and killed the gunman who planned to shoot up a Wayne church spoke to FOX 2 about what went through his head during that horrifying Sunday. 

The backstory:

It was a story of good and evil that played out on the lawn of Crosspointe Community Church where 80 children with their parents ran for their lives, as a gunman entered the property. 

Jay Trombley, a security guard, was there that day and says bullets were flying by him.  

"We had lots of tables set up; we were having snacks and stuff, and you could see bullet holes through the tablecloths," Trombley said.

The gunman, Brian Browning, 31, of Romulus, was dressed in tactical gear and armed with what sounded like a modified automatic rifle, was run down on purpose by a churchgoer who was late for the service that morning. 

"The fact that the man who hit him with a pickup was late to church and decided to make his own breakfast instead of buying breakfast on the way to church," Trombley said.

Featured

article

Wayne churchgoers credited with preventing mass shooting after gunman shows up to Sunday service

Brian Browning, 31, of Romulus, was shot and killed by a security guard when he showed up at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne and started shooting Sunday morning.

What they're saying:

FOX 2 was told the gunman was hurt but still firing, hitting a security team member in the leg and taking aim at another hiding behind an A/C unit. 

That was when Trombley shot Browning, killing him on the spot and ending the madness. 

"There have been a few moments where I’ve actually had to think of him as a person when they talk about his mom and his dad and know he’s their son, and I have a son and I have kids," Trombley said.

Dig deeper:

Investigators say Browning was having a mental health episode. His social media spelled out his radicalized views on religion, echoed by his conversations with the church’s pastor, in which he likened himself to a prophet. 

Browning even took social media shots directly at Crosspointe Community Church weeks before the shooting.

"This could have been extremely bad. We think that maybe he thought we were having an outdoor service, and he was coming," Trombley said. "We go on; we cannot let the devil stop us from spreading our word."

Trombley said God’s hands were on them all that day.