Pastor in St. Louis Suburb Fends off bullets with his Bible

Motive Still Unclear in Church Shooting
By JIM SUHR [...]AP
MARYVILLE, Ill. (March 9) - Worshipers at the sprawling First Baptist Church in this St. Louis suburb initially weren't alarmed when a young man they didn't recognize walked up the church's center aisle during the early morning sermon. Until he opened fire.

Winters deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene worshipers initially thought was a skit, police said.
"We just sat there waiting for what comes next not realizing that he had wounded the pastor," said Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the 1,200-member church.

Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace — titled "Come On, Get Happy" — and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing after the attack, Cunningham said.

Two worshipers tackled the gunman as he pulled the knife, and all three were stabbed — the gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one worshiper had lower back wounds, Trent said.
Churchgoers knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began.