A Florida madman went on a wild shooting rampage Sunday, killing his wife at their home before storming a nearby church and shooting two priests. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Jeremiah Fogle’s bloody spree ended when two heroic churchgoers tackled him and managed to wrestle away his .32 caliber pistol, police in Lakeland, Fla., said.
“We don’t know why he went into his mad rage,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told The Ledger newspaper.
But the 57-year-old has a history of violent behavior; he admitted to slaying his previous wife nearly 20 years ago.
According to court records, Fogle pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years probation for killing his wife in their Avon Park, Fla., home in 1987.
In that case, Fogle greeted a police officer at his door holding a rifle and showed the cop to his wife’s dead body, court records showed. The previous wife’s name was not released.
On Sunday, churchgoers said they were kneeling in prayer at the Greater Faith Christian Center Church in West Lakeland just before 10 a.m. Sunday when the gunman calmly walked down the center aisle and took aim at Rev. William Boss, the head pastor.
“He walked up to him, looked around, and shot him in the head,” Judd told The Ledger.
Fogle then allegedly turned and fired three shots at Rev. Carl Stewart, the assistant minister, hitting him in the head and the shoulder.
As the congregation erupted into panic, Derrick Foster and Corey Reed leaped to their feet and tackled Fogle, wrestling with him for several minutes before finally knocking the gun away, police said.
“He had a great grip on the gun,” Foster told the Associated Press. “My plan was, as soon as he hit the floor, it would cause him to drop it. But he didn’t drop it.”
When deputies arrived, they found more bullets in Fogle’s pockets.
