From 1999 to 2016, there were 626 violent deaths in U.S. houses of worship, according to statistics compiled by church security expert Carl Chinn. More deadly force incidents have occurred in Baptist churches during that timeframe than in churches of any other denomination, Chinn reported.
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“Fatal shooting leaves Pennsylvania church ‘grieved’,” by David Roach, Baptist Press, April 25, 2016
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Further details by David Roach in The Baptist Press, April 28, 2016:
According to reports by the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer, Robert Braxton, 27, was told by another worship attendee at Keystone Fellowship that he was in an occupied seat. Braxton became disruptive and church leaders tried unsuccessfully to calm him. Church member Mark Storms, 46, showed Braxton his permit to carry a firearm and asked him to leave, whereupon Braxton punched him in the face. Mr. Storms shot him twice with a semi-automatic handgun.
Storms, who had no official position in the church, told police he was “trying to stop him because I was afraid he was going to hurt me and other people.” Police have charged Storms with voluntary manslaughter. Kevin Steele, the district attorney, said, “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to bring a gun to church.”