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First of Texas church shooting victims memorialized
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Kathy Jo Brown, left, says her husband Shawn, upper right, 'ran the race victoriously all the way to God's arms'
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Listen to witnesses describe the shooting at the Wedgwood Baptist Church.
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CNN's Ed Garsten interviews friends of the church shooting victims
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CNN's Bill Hemmer reports from seminary of church shooting victims
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First of Texas church shooting victims memorialized
In this story:
Community service planned for Sunday
'No satisfactory explanation'
Ashbrook discharged from Navy for pot use
RELATED STORIES, SITES
From staff and wires reports
FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- Friends and family of Shawn Brown remembered a warm and funny man full of life and love Saturday as the funerals for victims of the shooting at a Fort Worth Baptist church began.
"All men die, but few really live," Brown's friend John Roland said, quoting the movie "Braveheart. "Shawn Brown really lived. He lived a life of purpose, of passion, and of meaning."
Brown's wife, Kathy Jo, told the gathered mourners that she "loved being Shawn Brown's wife."
"We had a marriage based on God, and we often said we felt like we were living in a dream," she said. "We were a team, and we challenged each other."
"Shawn ran the race victoriously all the way to God's arms," Kathy Jo Brown said tearfully.
Brown, 23, was studying to be a youth minister at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Saturday's service was held.
Community service planned for Sunday
Brown's fellow seminarian Susan "Kim" Jones, 23, and seminary graduate Sydney Browning, 36, were to be memorialized later in the day at Southwestern. Services for 17-year-old Justin Ray, a high school senior, were to be held at Westcliff United Methodist Church.
Ray held a video camera, taping the performance of a Christian rock group, when Larry Gene Ashbrook, 47, burst into Wedgwood Baptist Church Wednesday and opened fire. The tape ends after Ashbrook aimed at the camera and fired.
Kristi Beckel, Joseph D. Ennis, Cassandra Griffin, all 14, were also killed in Ashbrook's hail of bullets. Seven people were injured; two of the injured remain hospitalized, listed in fair condition.
With several unspent ammunition clips still in his pockets, Ashbrook later sat in a back pew of the church and fatally shot himself in the head.
A large community memorial service is planned for Sunday at Texas Christian University's football stadium. Texas Gov. George W. Bush plans to attend.
'No satisfactory explanation'
Investigators searching for rhyme or reason to the seemingly senseless crime have found little since Wednesday. Ashbrook left no note to cast light on his motives for the shooting but friends and family described the man as a paranoid loner, investigators said.
Investigators found the inside of his nearby house in shambles. Rambling letters written over the summer to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram referred to encounters with the CIA, psychological warfare, assaults by co-workers and being drugged by police.
Ashbrook's family said there was no justification for the attack.
| Excerpt from Ashbrook's July 31 letter to the Star-Telegram: | |
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'I began to seek the audience of the FBI. I certainly had
reason to believe I was being targeted by some investigative
group. I was unable to get an agent over the phone ... for
reasons I've never understood.'
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"We know that there can never be a satisfactory explanation for this action," said a statement issued Friday and attributed to Ashbrook's brother, Aaron Ashbrook, sister Pat Brown and sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Tom Gentry. "We only know that we are heartsick along with everyone in Fort Worth and the nation."
Ashbrook discharged from Navy for pot use
Information obtained from the Pentagon indicated that Ashbrook was court-martialed and discharged from the U.S. Navy for smoking marijuana.
Ashbrook enlisted in the Navy in 1972 and served two stints, from October 1972 to February 1975 and from February 1979 to December 1983 in a variety of positions. He received five promotions before he received an "Other Than Honorable" discharge, according to biographical information released by the Pentagon.
Fort Worth police have said that Ashbrook was arrested in 1971 on a marijuana-related charge but that he served no jail time.
During his Navy stints, Ashbrook received four awards and decorations -- the National Defense Service Medal, the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal and the Sea Service Ribbon.
His last rank held was AW3 (E-4), an aviation warfare systems operator.
During his stints, Ashbrook was stationed in Dallas and Jacksonville, Florida.
Correspondents Bill Hemmer and Ed Garsten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Gunman opens fire at Texas church; 8 people dead
September 15, 1999
Gunman eludes police after shooting 5 at Jewish community center
August 10, 1999
3 shot dead in Alabama, suspect arrested
August 5, 1999
Suspect in Atlanta shooting spree dead
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Midwest shooting spree ends with apparent suicide of suspect
July 5, 1999
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