Michigan police ID slain church shooter, reveal his connection to congregation

Michigan police have released the identity of the gunman who opened fire on a Sunday church service in Wayne, Michigan.

The Wayne Police Department named the now-deceased shooter as Brian Anthony Browning, 31, of Romulus, Michigan. Police have not commented on a potential motive, but they said Browning’s mother is a member of the church, and the suspect attended services two or three times over the last year.

“We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church’s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,” Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong said in a statement Sunday. 

Browning was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, more than a dozen fully-loaded magazines, an automatic handgun with an extended magazine and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, police said.

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Police received multiple 911 calls from CrossPointe Community Church on Sunday at 11:06 a.m. reporting a White male suspect, wearing camouflage clothing and a tactical vest, getting guns out of his car to go into the church. 

A witness told officials he saw the suspect driving a silver SUV “erratically in the church parking lot before he parked the vehicle on the west side of the building,” police said in a press release. 

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Minutes later, police received multiple 911 calls reporting that shots had been fired, and a parishioner driving a pickup truck struck the alleged gunman in the parking lot. 

A church security guard then neutralized the shooter, according to police.

“The church security team was alerted by the [gunfire] and reacted quickly to engage the suspect outside the main entrance doors of the church,” police said. “The security team locked the front doors and exchanged [gunfire] with the suspect, who was shot and killed by a member of the security team. Officers arrived on scene and performed life-saving measures, but the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene by Wayne Fire Rescue.”

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One person sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg, and authorities transported that person to a nearby hospital. The victim remains in stable condition after a successful surgical procedure, according to officials.

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Police executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home and located additional rifles, several semi-automatic handguns and a “large amount of ammunition,” all of which were confiscated.

The suspect had no priors, but a preliminary investigation revealed that “he may have been suffering a mental health crisis,” police said, adding that “[t]here is no evidence to believe that this act of violence has any connection with the conflict in the Middle East.”

Police also confirmed that an online live-stream of the Sunday service showed parishioners reacting to the shooting. 

The Wayne Police Department’s investigation into the shooting is active and ongoing.

Fox News’ Peter D’Abrosca and Russell Byers contributed to this report.