EXCLUSIVE: Man who helped subdue church gunman talks to NewsChannel 5

By Leisa Zigman

KSDK -- Fifty-one-year-old Keith Melton, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, was sitting with his wife Reka for Sunday services at First Baptist Church of Maryville when an unidentified man walked up to the front of the congregation and opened fire on Pastor Fred Winters.

"This gentleman just walked in, walked straight down the center isle of the church," Keith said.

Reka said she had a "bad feeling" when the gunman first walked by, interrupting Pastor Winters, who was in the middle of a sermon on happiness.

"Our pastor said, 'Brother can I help you,' or something to that effect, and then the guy pulled out a gun and started shooting him," Reka said.

Congregants watched horrified as the power of the first bullet tore the pastor's Bible to shreds.

When the shots rang out, Keith sprang into action.

"I knew I had to do something," he said. "My pastor was in danger and I knew I had to act."

Keith and another church member, 39-year-old Terry Bullard, wrestled the gunman to the ground.

"I just ran and got behind the guy and managed to get my hands around him and pulled him off the pastor. Somewhere within that struggle he was able to stab me," Keith said.

Keith received an inch-deep stab wound to his chest. He was treated and released from a hospital later in the afternoon. Bullard was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Keith said he's replaying the day's events in his mind and second guessing himself.

"It's hard to take (being called a hero) when I had to see my pastor murdered. To think an inch or two, and a half second more might have made the difference. It's hard," he said. "I would ask for everyone's prayers for our church family and for pastor's family."