The daughter of a man who was shot dead in an attack on a Texas church on Sunday has said she forgives her father's killer.
Tiffany Wallace told NBC News affiliate KXAS her father Anton Wallace was serving communion at West Freeway Church in White Settlement, Texas when the gunman opened fire.
The gunman, identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen killed two parishioners before being shot down by the church's head of security, Jack Wilson.
Following the incident, Wallace ran to her father's aid and told him she loved him. He later died in hospital.
Wallace gave tribute to her dad, who was a deacon at the church, calling him a "godly" man and a "rock" known by many within the church community and the hospital where he worked as a registered nurse.
"Even when talking about heaven, he said he was always prepared, but I never thought this would happen," Wallace said. "You think dad would get old and sick but never get murdered,"
She recalled her daughter noticing the man when he first entered the building and telling her to be welcoming to the newcomer after she made comments about his strange appearance.
Speaking about her father's killer she admitted it was hard to forgive him: "How could someone so evil, the devil, step in the church and do this?" she said.
"I forgive him, and it's the hardest thing to say because it's like, somebody killed your dad, but I forgive him," she added. "I'll never forgive what he did, but I forgive him."