Due to the new European data protection law, we need your consent before you use our website:
We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.
As Farida Brown lay on the floor in the last row of pews in Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, the 73-year-old woman felt certain she would be the next one killed.
The gunman had fired numerous rounds into her legs. She was shot four times, but the bullets all struck soft tissue. None of her bones were broken, and no arteries were hit, her son said. But the man was revisiting those he had shot to make sure they were dead, and if they weren’t, he was shooting them once more.
Brown’s recollections of the horror that she and others in the church experienced, as told to her son, are among the first offered by one of the 20 wounded Sunday in the rampage that killed 26 churchgoers. The son, David Brown, told her story to reporters Monday, including CNN and The Washington Post.
The first inkling that there was something wrong, David Brown told The Post, was when she heard shots being fired through the windows from outside.
Then, when the gunman entered, Farida Brown heard the relentless pop-pop-popping as he opened fire on worshipers. She watched him shoot anyone who attempted to flee.
The Sunday school teacher to her right told her to get down on the floor. He then fled.
She told her son that the shooter paced back and forth, firing into the pews and shooting at cellphones anytime someone tried to call police. He shot at her phone at least three times.
As the gunman fired shots into the congregation, “everyone was running around trying to escape,” said David Brown, but most lay on the floor, hiding.
The gunman fired four shots into the torso of the woman on Farida Brown’s left, David Brown said.
“With every shot, she was crying,” he said of the woman. “She was just staring at my mom while she tried to comfort her.” As he fired rounds into the woman, Farida Brown held her hand, telling her she was heading to heaven.
Up to that point, Farida Brown had sustained only shots to her legs. But as the shooter fired into the woman next to her, she prepared to be slain.
“Then she thought that it was her turn,” David Brown told The Post. “She just started praying.”
At that moment, she heard a shot fired from a different man, at the front door.
Rev. Van Jordan, of Port Arthur, Tex., leads a group prayer while setting up crosses to honor the shooting victims along the edge of a field next to Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Rebekah Weigner and Sharaell Treloar, left, and Amy Parks and Greg Zanis hug after a group prayer while crosses to honor the shooting victims are set up next to Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Crosses with hearts stand along the edge of a field next to Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Vice President Pence and Karen Pence sing during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Vice President Pence speaks during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)The crowd listens during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Shooting victims and their families listen as Karen Pence says a prayer during a vigil at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families participate in a prayer during a vigil at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Sherri Pomeroy hugs Karen Pence during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with Stephen Williford, who shot at the gunman and chased him away, during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Vice President Pence hugs Stephen Williford, who shot at the gunman and chased him away, during a vigil for victims in the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church shooting and their families at Floresville High School in Floresville, Tex. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Investigators examine bullet holes left by a gunman in the front door of First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Law enforcement officials continue to investigate the scene of the mass shooting at First Baptist Church. (Eric Gay/AP)Rene Moreno holds back tears as he speaks with a Texas state trooper outside the church in Sutherland Springs. (Eric Gay/AP)Brenda Woldridge, left, and Meredith Cooper embrace at a memorial outside the church. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)Media gather at the perimeter near First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Media gather near the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)A state trooper’s vehicle sits across from the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Senior Corporal Stirling Pack, left, and Trooper Calven Ayala guard the road in front of the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Media gather outside the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)An FBI investigator surveys the area in Sutherland Springs. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Texas state troopers walk with Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church Pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife, Sherri Pomeroy, toward the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)An FBI team sweeps the lot next to the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Members of the media gather during a news conference outside the church. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Pomeroy and his wife, Sherri Pomeroy, stand with officials during the news conference. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Pomeroy hugs Precinct 1 Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. of Wilson County after the news conference. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Flowers lie on the ground after the news conference. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Laura Torres, of San Antonio, cries as she touches one of the 26 crosses, one for each person killed in the First Baptist Church shooting. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Cheryl Martinez, of San Antonio, sings and prays during a vigil for the victims. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Families pray during a vigil for the victims. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)People pray in front of 26 crosses, one for each person killed. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)The church in Sutherland Springs. (Nick Wagner/AP)The area around a site of a mass shooting is taped out in Sutherland Springs, Texas, U.S., November 5, 2017, in this picture obtained via social media. MAX MASSEY/ KSAT 12/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES (MAX MASSEY/KSAT 12/Reuters)Sutherland Springs, with a population of about 400, is located about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)The area around First Baptist Church has been taped off by police. (MAX MASSEY/ KSAT 12/Reuters)A helicopter flies near the site of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, a small town more than 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. (MAX MASSEY/ KSAT 12/Reuters)Police cars and other vehicles in Sutherland Springs. (MAX MASSEY/ KSAT 12/Reuters)Police vehicles block the road near Sutherland Springs after the gunman is said to have fled the scene in his car. (Liz Summers/Reuters)Law enforcement officials at the scene of the shooting. (Nick Wagner/AP)Members of the FBI walk along the side of the church. (Darren Abate/AP)The flags in front of the church have been lowered to half-staff. (Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)Law enforcement and forensic officials gather near First Baptist Church. (Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)Investigators work at the scene of the shooting. (Jay Janner/AP)Police block the roads surrounding the church in Sutherland Springs. The motive of the gunman is not immediately known. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)Carrie Matula embraces a woman after the fatal shooting. Matula said she heard the shooting from the gas station where she works a block away. (Nick Wagner/AP)Families and others gather at the community center awaiting news. (Joe Mitchell/Reuters)People pray near the church. (Nick Wagner/AP)Texas Governor Greg Abbott gives an update during a news conference at the Stockdale Community Center following the shooting. (Stringer/Reuters)People attend a vigil at First Baptist Church. (Smith/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock)Texas Gov. Greg Abbott consoles Ann Montgomery, a Sunday school teacher, at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting. (Jay Janner/AP)Mona Rodriguez holds her 12-year-old son, J. Anthony Hernandez, during a candlelight vigil held for the victims of the shooting. (Nick Wagner/AP)Mourners attend a candlelight vigil. (Joe Mitchell/Reuters)A candlelight vigil is observed at First Baptist Church. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)A candlelight vigil is observed at First Baptist Church. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)Flags are lowered to half-staff outside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. (Smith/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock)Photo Gallery: At least two dozen people are reported dead after a shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., near San Antonio. The gunman was found dead several miles away, officials say.
The other man was Stephen Willeford, who lives near the church. Willeford, a certified shooting instructor, grabbed his own rifle and raced out of his house barefoot.
“I kept hearing the shots, one after another,” Willeford told 40/29 News, “very rapid shots, just ‘pop pop pop pop.’ and I knew every one of those shots represented someone, that it was aimed at someone, that they weren’t just random shots.
“He saw me, and I saw him,” Willeford told the station.
It was Willeford’s presence that distracted Kelley.
Willeford hit Kelley at least once, authorities said. Kelley then dropped his rifle, jumped in his Ford Expedition SUV and fled. Willeford, with the help of Johnnie Langendorff, who had stopped in his truck when he saw what was happening, gave chase at high speed, until Kelley’s car careened off the road into a ditch. Kelley was dead, with three gunshot wounds, including a self-inflicted shot to the head, authorities said Monday. Willeford apparently hit him in the leg and torso, according to Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Farida Brown survived.
She sustained bullet wounds and bullet fragments and shrapnel in her legs, groin and left hip.
David Brown first heard about the attack through a text message from his sister. “There’s been a shooting at Mom’s church,” the message read, he said. “She’s been shot.”
“What kind of a sick joke is this?” he said he thought.
He immediately packed a bag and drove from Houston to the hospital in Floresville, Tex., where his mother was undergoing surgery. Farida Brown emerged from surgery about 45 minutes after he arrived.
The next day, when she began to recover from surgery, she described the scene in further detail to Texas Rangers authorities and to hospital staff, with her son in the room, he said. She did not feel comfortable speaking to news outlets on Monday and asked her son to recount her experiences.
David Brown, 50, son of Farida Brown. (David Brown)
Two other survivors, Joaquin Ramirez and Joanne Solis, told KSAT that when the babies in the church cried, the gunman would shoot them point blank.
Solis was shot in the arm, near the front door, while Ramirez was struck by shrapnel.
“Everybody started screaming, yelling,” Solis told KSAT. “Everybody got down, under, wherever they could hide.”
They huddled on the ground, pretending they were dead, and watched as bullets hit the church’s carpeted floor.
“I hear firecrackers popping. Ta-ta-ta,” she recalled. “It was so scary. He was shooting hard.”
David Brown’s nephew, who arrived at the church shortly after the shooting, described it as “walking into a scene in a movie.”
“There were just dead bodies laying everywhere,” Brown said his nephew told him.
Farida Brown still does not know the identity of the woman on her left, her son said, nor whether she survived the shooting. She doesn’t know what happened to the Sunday school teacher after he fled the church.
“She’s wondering why none of her church friends have called,” David Brown said.
In many cases, it’s because they didn’t survive.
Farida Brown has been a member of First Baptist Church for about 10 years.
“She never misses a Sunday,” her son said. “All of her friends she hangs out with during the week all go to the church.”
Every Thursday morning, she helps serve a breakfast for a Bible study class at the church.
“She knows she was blessed,” David Brown said. “She told me she would have gladly taken 15 more shots to the legs” if it could have saved more lives, he said.
He said “it’s amazing” that his mother is already walking around with a walker. Her legs are still covered in bandages from ankle to hip, and her knee has “swollen up really big,” but Farida Brown should be released from the hospital by Tuesday, her son said.
“In two or three weeks she’ll be dancing again,” David Brown said.