A 21-year-old man who hid from police at an East Texas church was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in a shooting in which the pastor died and two other people were injured Sunday, a chief said. local police.
Authorities had been using dogs and drones to search for the man Saturday night in a forest near Winona after a road chase, and the pastor of the nearby Starrville Methodist Church discovered him hiding in a restroom at the site Sunday morning, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said at a news conference.
Police were initially pursuing the man because he was suspected of brandishing a shotgun through the sunroof of a Volkswagen Jetta he was driving on Saturday, Smith said. Authorities believe the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Mytrez Deunte Woolen, of Marshall, Texas, broke into the church after police withdrew from the area at approximately 2 a.m. Sunday.
Pastor Mark Allen McWilliams, 62, pulled out a pistol and ordered Woolen to stop, Smith said, but Woolen took the pistol away and started shooting with it. McWilliams was killed, a second person was shot and another was injured in a fall.
So Woolen stole the pastor’s vehicle and fled east before police arrested him in nearby Harrison County, Smith said. The individual was hospitalized Sunday afternoon with gunshot wounds to his hand, but it is unknown when they occurred, he said.
Woolen faces charges of aggravated assault and murder, punishable by capital punishment. He is in the Smith County Jail, and bail was set at $ 3.5 million.
The shots were reported around 9:20 a.m., a time when there were no religious ceremonies, Sgt. Larry Christian of the sheriff’s office said. Smith said the pastor, his wife, and two other people were in the temple at that time.
Woolen appears to have taken refuge in the church because it suited him and there is no indication that the shooting was motivated by animosity against religion, the sheriff said.
“It is not a crime related to a church or a religion,” he said.
Governor Greg Abbott sent his condolences.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and families of those killed or injured in this terrible tragedy,” he said in a statement.
It is unknown what time Woolen entered the church in Starrville, near Winona, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Dallas.
Representatives of the Starrville Methodist Church could not be reached for comment.
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