A volunteer security team member stopped an attempted mass shooting at a Michigan church on Sunday. No parishioners were killed, thanks in part to Jay Trombley.
WATCH | Jay Trombley on the moment he stopped the gunman
Trombley is a member of Cross Pointe Community Church and its safety team, which sprang into action when 31-year-old Brian Browning showed up Sunday morning armed with a rifle and handgun.
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"I heard a noise, thought it was mechanical at first, turned to see people running, asked them through a door what had happened. I thought it was in the cry room and a young woman said, 'AR-15,' and I said, 'Where?' She pointed and I headed in that direction," Trombley said.
"We found out that evil came to our door, but God's hand of protection was right over us," he added. "So many things happened that can only be God driven: that the parishioner shows up late to engage him with this pick-up truck to slow him down; that double pane window stopped five rounds that I fairly certain where I was standing to look at the wall behind me to see the impact to see that where rounds from his rifle traveled and impacted, I'm, I'm…God's hand was protecting me."
Trombley and other safety team members, all average citizens with no police or military experience, have undergone extensive training in the event they encounter an active shooter. He says Sunday's nightmare underscores a harsh reality.
"You are your own first responder. You are the first person on scene. It doesn't matter if it's someone trying to hurt you, an injury, something, you are your first responder," Trombley said.
Browning attended a few services at the church where his mother was baptized, but it's unclear why he chose to carry out the attack there. Trombley is coming to terms with the reality that the cost of saving lives Sunday was taking one.
"I realize what happened ... what my actions did, you know? I will reconcile with the Lord on the time for that. I was protecting his people," Trombley said.
"The one thing that always has been in the back of my mind, the question: if I hear that noise, will I run to it or will I run from it? I answered that question yesterday," he added.
Trombley does not think of himself as a hero, but rather a guardian protecting his family. He says the members of Cross Pointe Community Church are his family.
Browning struck another security team member in the leg during the shootout. That team member is recovering.
This story was originally published by Randy Wimbley with the Scripps News Group in Detroit.
