‘There was just something not right about him,’ says woman who sat near church gunman

A woman who sat near the man who killed two men at the West Freeway Church of Christ said he immediately made her feel uneasy.

Isabel Arreola, 38, said she did not know what to think when the man sat down two feet behind her and her 7-year-old daughter.

She wanted to think that he was there to worship, just like everyone else, but she had never seen him in church, and said he appeared to be in disguise.

His beard and the hair on his head looked fake, and he made her uncomfortable, Arreola said. She noticed him from the moment that he sat down, Arreola said.

She and her husband decided they would move to the other side of the church after communion, Arreola said.

Then the man got up, pulled a shotgun from his clothing and fired, she said.

“At the same time, we all dove for the floor,” she said. “My husband covered my daughter with his body.”

By the time they all got up, other church members were approaching the gunman with their weapons drawn.

“I was so surprised because I did not know that so many in the church were armed,” she said.

Two members of the congregation’s security team returned fire, White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering said. The gunman died at the scene, Bevering said.

Arreola said she could tell that one of the members of the security team was concerned about the shooter because he sat in the back right near him.

“They saved us,” Arreola said. “Unfortunately, two men lost their lives while they were doing so.”

Arreola said she couldn’t concentrate when the man was sitting behind her.

“I should have listened to my gut,” Arreola said. “While he was there, I couldn’t sing. I couldn’t pray. There was just something not right about him. But at the same time, I thought that maybe I was being too hard.”

Arreola said that she wanted to provide a good example for her young daughter. The 7-year-old is now asking questions that neither one of her parents can answer.

“Why did he do this? Why are people so mean?” Arreola said her daughter has asked.

She has no answers.

“Our church is so giving,”Arreola said. “We help the homeless. We help people get food, pay for car repairs. If he just needed something, I’m sure we would have tried to help him if he had just asked.”

The church has planned a members-only worship service for Monday. Perhaps Arreola or her husband will attend, but she does not believe her daughter will be able to make it. She is still processing the shooting, Arreola said. If not Monday, her family will return to her church soon, Arreola said.

“The church is my family,” she said. “I pray to God that he watches over us and we can put this in the past. You hear about church shootings, school shootings all the time, but never think that it’ll be your church.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 10:41 PM.