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Gunman kills pastor at church in Illinois

The bullet shredded the clergyman's Bible, suggesting to parishioners it was part of a skit.

console one another outside the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., where a gunman killed the Rev. Fred Winters, above, and wounded himself before he was subdued.
console one another outside the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., where a gunman killed the Rev. Fred Winters, above, and wounded himself before he was subdued.Read moreAt left, congregants
    by By Jim Suhr, Associated Press, Inquirer
    Published 

MARYVILLE, Ill. - A pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, spraying a confetti of paper into the air during a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said.

The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with the Rev. Fred Winters before pulling out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and shooting at the pastor, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said yesterday.

"We thought it was part of a drama skit . . . when he shot, what you saw was confetti," congregant Linda Cunningham said. "We just sat there waiting for what comes next, not realizing that he had wounded the pastor."

The weapon jammed before the man could fire again, Trent said. The attacker then pulled out a four-inch knife and stabbed himself and two men who tackled him, he said. Winters was pronounced dead at Anderson Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Natalie Head said.

Authorities didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two who had led the church for nearly 22 years, and the gunman knew each other. No one at the church seemed to recognize the 27-year-old gunman. Police would not release his name pending possible charges.

"We don't know the relationship, why he's here, or what the circumstances came about that caused him in the first place to be here," said Illinois State Police Master Trooper Ralph Timmins.

Trent did not have details of Winters' conversation with the gunman. "Right now all we know is that the suspect said something to the pastor and the pastor said something back," he said.

The gunman and one stabbing victim, 39-year-old Terry Bullard, underwent surgery at St. Louis University Hospital, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. Bullard was in serious condition, she said. Keller did not release details of the gunman's condition or injuries.

The other victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released from Gateway Regional Medical Center, spokeswoman Kate Allaria said. A man who answered the phone at a listing for Keith Melton in Troy identified himself as Melton's stepson and said Melton had been stabbed but was going to be fine.

First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members, according to the church Web site. Winters also was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.