Quiet Heroism

'It was time to help,' says Keith Melton, congregant now labeled as 'heroic'

Excerpts:

While many in the congregation thought the shooting unfolding before them was some sort of production, Melton quickly realized it was real. He jumped up from his seat in the middle of the sanctuary and ran to the Rev. Fred Winters.

"It was just time to go," said Melton, 51. "It was time to help."

Melton was the first to grab the gunman and pull him off Winters. Others joined in the effort to try to stop the attacker, who also had a knife. Melton and another church member, Terry Bullard, 39, were stabbed in the melee.

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Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent called Bullard and Melton "heroic" for stopping something that could have been worse. Leaders of the First Baptist Church of Maryville called them brave.

"Some people have the first thought of sitting in their seats, shellshocked, but here's two guys who just responded," said Robert Cunningham, the church's minister of administration. "Somebody has to go after the assailant, and that means personal sacrifice, and Terry and Keith were that kind of person."

Melton was sitting along the aisle when the suspect came through the sanctuary doors and walked past him. Melton thought it was odd he was walking toward the front as Winters was reaching the end of his sermon. The man also had on a heavy coat, which seemed strange given the warm weather early Sunday morning.

Melton's wife, Reka Melton, sat next to him. "I thought maybe this guy needed help and he was going to the pastor," she said.

The man walked slowly, but purposefully, all the way to the edge of the stage where Winters was preaching.

The pastor stopped his sermon. "Good morning," Keith Melton recalled Winters saying. "Can I help you?"

The man pulled out a gun and shot, hitting the Bible the pastor had in his hands, sending shredded bits of it into the air. Many in the crowd thought it was confetti, part of some sort of drama often used in the church services.

Melton said he didn't see the gun, but the gravity in Winters' eyes pulled him from his pew. A second shot rang out, and the pastor screamed, "Somebody help me!" But the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Melton said he was already on his way.

Reka Melton didn't even realize. "My husband was up and gone and there before I knew it," she said.

The pastor either jumped or fell off the side of the stage. The gunman attacked him again. "When I got to them, they were struggling," Keith Melton said. "All four of their hands were together."

He wrapped his arms around the man and pulled him off Winters, slamming him face-forward against a wall. Melton isn't sure at what point more shots rang out, one hitting the pastor in the chest and fatally injuring him.

The gunman broke free, turned and lifted his hand. Melton tried to block him, thinking he still had a gun. He tried to run, but Melton grabbed him by the legs, bringing him to the ground.

Others were around now, helping stop the man and coming to Winters' aid, Melton said. He thinks Bullard was next to him after he slammed the assailant against the wall. "I believe that's when he slashed Terry," Melton said.

The attacker pulled himself under a pew. "That's when he stabbed himself in the throat," Melton said. Other church members got the knife and contained him under the pew until police arrived.

Melton said he didn't realize he was stabbed until he felt something cool on his chest. He ripped open his burgundy dress shirt and saw blood. A nurse in the congregation laid him down on a pew and applied pressure to the wound.

Comment: Please pray for Fred Winters' widow and children!