It’s a sad fact of life and an awful commentary on our broken culture that churches need to have armed security guards.
But thank God that several men at CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Mich., were armed and trained to respond to an attack. Their training and skills were put to the ultimate test on June 22, when Brian Anthony Browning, who was heavily armed and dressed in tactical gear, tried to enter the church. Their brave actions likely prevented the mass slaughter of Christians who were at the church that day to celebrate their annual Vacation Bible School program.
In an episode of “The World and Everything in It” podcast this week, church members and witnesses discussed that harrowing day.
Sound technician Dustin Fuoco said in the podcast, “This was following our Vacation Bible School program, and instead of doing our regular worship, we had the children up on stage doing some performances and songs and dance and stuff.”
As the performance was unfolding, Richard Pryor, a deacon at the church, was arriving late that day in his F-150 pickup truck.
Jay Trombley, a member of the church security team, described what happened next: Browning “had some tactical gear on and some camouflage, mostly all camouflage. And he proceeded to put on more tactical gear, some sound protection over his ears, and then grabbed a large rifle.”
In fact, police say 31-year-old Browning, whose mother attended the church and who had attended himself several times, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine, more than a dozen loaded magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Pryor realized something wasn’t right and asked the man if he needed something.
According to Trombley, “The man looked at him and smirked, and walked away and started walking down the sidewalk, towards the main lobby entrance.”
That’s when Pryor realized what Browning’s intentions were. With no time to waste, he jumped back into his truck and barreled toward the would-be assassin. After being hit by the truck, Browning somehow managed to get off a barrage of shots and disable the truck. He fired into the windshield, but Pryor, thank God, wasn’t struck.
Hellbound and Down 