Man hailed a hero after chasing down Texas church shooter

(CNN) — Were it not for a local resident who confronted the gunman, the deadliest shooting in Texas history could have claimed even more lives.

At a news conference Sunday night, investigators offered a preliminary timeline of the attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and laid out the role the resident played.

The gunman entered the small church in the rural town east of San Antonio, firing with an assault weapon at the congregation attending the morning service.

A local resident grabbed his own rifle and engaged the gunman, said Freeman Martin, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle and fled from the church,” Martin said.

The man then chased the gunman, Martin said.

A witness, Johnnie Langendorff, said he had been driving by when he saw gunfire between the shooter and the armed resident.

Langendorff told CNN affiliate KSAT he never saw the shooter. But the shooter was taking off and the armed resident “briefed me quickly on what had just happened and said we had to get him, and so that’s what I did.”

They gave chase in his truck and called police dispatch to tell them where they were and what direction they were headed.

“The vehicle was in sight and I was picking up, getting closer and closer to it. We hit about 95 [mph] … trying to catch this guy until he eventually lost control on his own and went off into the ditch,” Langendorff told the station.

“The gentleman that was with me got out and rested his rifle on my hood and kept it aimed at him [shooter], telling him to get out. There was no movement, there was none of that. I just know his brake lights were going on and off, so he might’ve been unconscious from the crash or something like that. I’m not sure.”