'That Team Did A Spectacular Job': Security Expert Says West Freeway Church Should Serve As A Model
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — Trained their congregation — legislation was recently passed allowing people to carry weapons in places of worship.
Now, after Sunday's shooting, one expert tells CBS 11 that the West Freeway Church of Christ should serve as a model for others across the country.
Police Officer David Riggall owns Sheepdog Defense Group, a business that specializes in church protection and helps them assemble safety teams.
"We don't like to talk about it because it's a human action, and we don't like to think that people will prey on each other," Riggall said. "But they do."
And while Riggall didn't work directly with the White Settlement church, he said he's visited.
"They had an excellent team, and I've reviewed that video over and over and over, and I've talked to some of the other folks around the country that kind of specialize in this, and that team did a spectacular job," he said.
Riggall said preparation was key, and is likely why the shooter was taken down just seconds after he opened fire.
"A lot of things were done right. The congregation going low and getting out of the way so that the people who needed to respond could identify where the problem was, was done very well," Riggall said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he does hope that through this tragedy that more churches will prepare the way this one did.
"I do hope that through this tragedy, more churches will prepare the way this church did. Not just in Texas, but across the nation, because in my opinion — this is the model for the future," Paxton said.
The attorney general said church leaders trained their members on what to do during an incident like this after Texas lawmakers clarified state law three months ago — making sure licensed gun holders could legally carry at places of worship.
Texas already allowed guns at churches, but lawmakers wanted to get rid of any confusion after the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs two years ago.
"We can't prevent every incident, we can't prevent mental illness from occurring and we can't prevent every crazy person from pulling a gun. But we can be prepared like this church was," Paxton said.
Riggall said he's seen an uptick in business with churches.
He started around seven years ago with just a few churches and now has more than 100 working all across the state.
In terms of what you can do to protect yourself, Riggall said to not be afraid to take action. He said doing something is far better than doing nothing.
