The gunman who opened fire in a Texas Church yesterday, killing two, has now been identified:
NBCDFW – The man who fatally shot two people at a White Settlement Church on Sunday before being killed by church security has been identified as a 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen, a River Oaks man with a criminal record, according to two law enforcement sources.
Kinnunen is believed to have been wearing a disguise, including a fake beard, when he stood up, pulled a shotgun from his clothing and opened fire inside the church, killing 64-year-old Anton Wallace, a church deacon from Fort Worth, and 67-year-old Richard White, of River Oaks.
Volunteer church security immediately approached Kinnunen and returned fire, killing him.
“I was so surprised because I did not know that so many in the church were armed,” Isabel Arreola said, telling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she was sitting near the gunman, had never seen him before and that he “made her uncomfortable.”
The FBI is working to identify the shooter’s motive. Matthew DeSarno, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, said the gunman was “relatively transient,” but had roots in the area.
“He’s battling a demon”
Kinnunen’s ex-wife, Cindy Glasgow-Voegel, filed for a protective order in January 2012 in Grady County, Oklahoma. In her statement in the order, she wrote, “Keith is a violent, paranoid person with a long line of assault and batteries with and without firearms. He is a religious fanatic, says he’s battling a demon. He is not nice to anyone.”
In that same 2012 document, Glasgow-Voegel said Kinnunen showed up at her home in October 2011 unannounced, with no money or vehicle, asking to see his son. She said she got him a trailer and a job and that he quit the job, assaulted a man in Tuttle and was in the county jail. She said their 15-year-old son was “terrified” of his father and that he threatened her should she try to keep them apart.
“Fire football”
In the protective order, the woman said her son was visiting his father when he set several fires around Tuttle, Oklahoma, and that her son recorded the arson but didn’t saying anything out of fear of retaliation. An arrest warrant affidavit filed in December 2011, that included a statement from his teenage son, said Kinnunen set a cotton field on fire using lamp oil, tampons and a lighter. His son also said his father liked to play “fire football,” where he soaked a football in an accelerant, lit it on fire and then they’d toss it back and forth. The teen told police he thought it was unsafe but that he was “afraid he might get mad at me if I asked to stop.”
Extensive criminal record…
In November 2011, two months before his ex-wife filed for a protective order, Kinnunen was charged with aggravated assault and battery in Grady County, Oklahoma, after he repeatedly hit a man in the face, breaking his nose.
Locally, Kinnunen had a criminal record in Tarrant County including charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2009 and theft of property in 2013. River Oaks police arrested him in 2009 and 2015 on warrants for unpaid traffic tickets, River Oaks, Deputy Police Chief Charles Stewart said.
Kinnunen also was arrested in September 2016 for possession of an illegal weapon in Linden, New Jersey, after he was found taking pictures outside an oil refinery, WNBC in New York has confirmed. Kinnunen said he was traveling from Texas, was homeless and was taking photos of “interesting sites.”
At the time of his New Jersey arrest, Kinnunen also had a warrant for his arrest in Oklahoma for aggravated assault, mycentraljersey.com reported.
Here’s a photo of Kinnunen that dates back to 2013:
Investigators have identified the #whitesettlement suspect as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43. This is a 2013 mugshot for Kinnunen, just released by the Tarrant Co. Sheriff's Office pic.twitter.com/3TJIkk6JIN
— News 4 San Antonio (@News4SA) December 30, 2019
Considering the extensive criminal record, I’m guessing we find out Kinnunen stole the shotgun he used in the shooting. Given all of the other crazy stuff, I’ll be surprised of they find a coherent motive for the shooting.