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Sister of gunman speaks about the shooting

Posted at 8:28 AM, Jan 01, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-01 09:28:51-05

The sister of the man who opened fire on a church congregation shares why she believes he carried out the terrible attack.

"He was a lost soul that had demons from a childhood, I keep repeating this but we are products from our environment," Amy Kinnunen says.

Amy Kinnunen, who lives near Tulsa, doesn't shy away from her brother's actions, as impossible as they are to fully comprehend.

"Why he did it this way, I have no idea. He did it in the church because he was extremely religious, and I feel like that I'm confident that he was praying to the good Lord up to the last minute."

Keith Kinnunen lived a troubled childhood, she insists. He spent years in and out of jail.

Until Sunday, when police say he attended West Freeway Church of Christ, stood during communion, and opened fire, killing two church members, before being shot and killed by an armed member of the church's security team.

His sister believes at the center of his decision, on this very day, is losing their younger brother to suicide years ago.

"I hate to use the word perfect, but it was Sunday, it was his brother's birthday, and he just, demons just ended up getting a hold of him."

Death by suicide, she believes, down to the disguise he wore to the church that had fed him several times before.

"There was compassion they knew him as a person. Going in there with a beard and fake hair, nobody would've known who he was and it would have been easier to pull the trigger," says Amy.

To Jack Wilson, hailed a hero for bringing down her brother, in a single shot, Amy says, "He did what he had to do. I think my brother wanted it to go down the way it went down, unfortunately."

And most of all to the families of the two men murdered by her brother, Amy says, "My prayers are with them and that's all I can do at this point."

Authorities found a letter next to Kinnunen's body, reportedly addressed to his son here in Oklahoma.

Amy doesn't know what it contains but says he often wrote to his son, even though they had a rocky relationship.

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