One man told an astonishing tale Sunday of how he helped chase down Devin Kelley, the alleged gunman in the horrific shooting in a Texas church that left 26 dead and 20 wounded with the victims reportedly ranging in age from five to 72.
Johnnie Langendorff was passing the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Sunday morning and happened upon the crossfire as Kelley was leaving the church. Langendorff helped a stranger, who had been shooting at Kelley, in an 11-mile car chase after the man briefly told him what had just happened.
"I never got a look at him," Langendorff told reporters of Kelley. "I never really saw him. I saw the gunfire."
Langendorff said he saw Kelley exchanging fire with a man outside the church who told him “he had to get him," adding, "so that's what I did."
"He just hurt so many people, he affected so many people's lives,” he said, “why wouldn't you want to take him down?"
Langendorff said he was going over 90 miles per hour and was on the phone with law enforcement while they were chasing Kelley.
"I was on the phone with dispatch the entire time," he said. "I gave them the direction we were going, on what road and everything, and that the vehicle was in sight and that I was getting closer and closer to him."
"The gentleman that was with me got out, rested his rifle on my hood and kept it aimed at him, telling him to get out, get out. There was no movement, there was none of that. I just know his brake lights were going on and off, so he might have been unconscious from the crash or something like that, I'm not sure," he said.
According to Langendorff, the police were on the scene within five to seven minutes.
“I did what I thought I needed to do,” Langendorff said. “They said that there’s a shooting. I pursued and I just, just did what I thought was the right thing to do.”
The, as yet unidentified, man who enlisted Langendorff’s aid reportedly lives next door to the church.
Kelley was found dead in his car from a gunshot wound but it is still unclear if the wound was self-inflicted or if he was shot by the neighbor.
Notebook
