Mother of Michigan church shooting suspect is member of church; suspect attended a few services in last year: Police

Police in Michigan said the mother of the suspect accused of opening fire at a suburban Detroit church on Sunday is a member of the church — and that the suspect attended services there in the last year.

Wayne Police in a news release said they received multiple 911 calls just after 11 a.m. Wayne is about a half hour southwest of Detroit.

'We are grateful for the quick actions of the church’s staff members.'

A witness told police he saw the suspect driving erratically in a silver SUV in the parking lot of CrossPointe Community Church after which the suspect parked the vehicle. The suspect — a white male wearing camouflage clothing and a tactical vest — was retrieving guns from his car and headed to the church, police said.

Police said minutes later, more calls poured in — this time saying the suspect was firing shots and that a church member driving a pickup truck hit the suspect.

Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr. told the Detroit News that the church member actually drove over the suspect: "He was run over by one of our members who saw this happening when he was coming into church."

What's more, the gunman shot at the vehicle repeatedly, Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong told the Detroit Free Press at a news conference Sunday evening.

Police told Blaze News that this photo shows the vehicle that a church member used to hit the shooting suspect. The shooting suspect reportedly fired repeatedly at the vehicle.Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images

Upon hearing the gunfire, police said the church security team locked the church's front doors and exchanged gunfire with the suspect outside. Police said a member of the security team shot and killed the suspect. First responders pronounced the suspect dead after performing life-saving measures, police said.

One member of the church's security team was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital, where he was last listed in stable condition after a successful surgery, police said. The wounded security team member did not fire a weapon at the gunman, Deputy Chief Finley Carter III told Blaze News, adding that he was one of three security team members involved.

Kelly told the Detroit News the attacker didn't enter the church building, but several shots were fired into the church. Carter added to Blaze News that police haven't yet determined how many rounds the gunman fired. No other church members were hurt, the Detroit News added.

Police said an investigation has identified the shooting suspect as 31-year-old Brian Anthony Browning of Romulus, Michigan. Romulus is about 12 minutes south of Wayne.

Police said the suspect was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and had more than a dozen fully loaded magazines as well as a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The suspect's mother is a member of the church, police said, adding that he attended services there two or three times over the course of the last year.

Police said a search warrant was executed at the suspect's residence where additional rifles, several more semi-automatic handguns, and an additional large amount of ammunition were seized and confiscated.

Police said the suspect had no previous contacts with Wayne police or criminal history — but police added that the investigation suggests he may have been suffering a mental health crisis. Deputy Chief Carter added to Blaze News that the image of Browning shown above is not a mug shot but rather his driver's license photo.

Police also said in its news release that there is no evidence that the act of violence was connected with the Middle East conflict.

In addition, police confirmed that a livestream video of church members reacting to gunfire indeed shows Sunday's incident:

A Wayne resident on Monday recalled to Blaze News the sounds of the shooting, noting that what actually was happening wasn't immediately apparent to him.

"I heard everything," the man recounted to Blaze News on the condition of anonymity, adding that "I was in my backyard and heard loud noises coming from the church."

The resident — who was just a few hundred feet from the church — added to Blaze News he "thought it was construction" and "then I go to my job and see police cars." He added that he later learned the details of the shooting and that it was "really sad."

"I know people who go to the church," the man told Blaze News, adding that they're dealing with some trauma but are managing it.

Police said about 150 people were at a special Vacation Bible School service when the suspect began shooting, the Detroit News said, adding that Strong said more children than usual were in attendance.

“We are grateful for the quick actions of the church’s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,” Strong told the Detroit News. “I would add that the church parishioners and staff members were trained in responding to emergency situations, which also saved lives.”

Strong told the Detroit News the suspect's motivation is not yet clear.

Church members launched a security team about 10 years ago in the wake of violence committed at other places of worship around the country, Kelly added to the Detroit News while noting that CrossPointe hadn't received threats of violence.

Kelly added to the Detroit News that children in attendance Sunday were "doing good" and that members were being mutually supportive: "We will be convening our leadership to put a formal plan in place for the aftermath." It isn't clear when the church will resume holding services.

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