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PERMISSION IS GIVEN BY JIM WAGNER TO COPY & DISTRIBUTE THIS REPORT FOR NON COMMERCIAL USE ONLY
CORNERSTONE CHURCH SHOOTING
BASED ON OPEN-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE (OSINT) AS OF MAY 25, 2022 A.D. • COMPILED & ANALYZED BY JIM WAGNER
DATE & TIME: June 1, 2022 at 6:51 p.m.
LOCATION: Cornerstone Church at 56829 US Hwy 30 in Ames, Iowa, USA
TYPE OF ATTACK: Church shooting “domestic situation,” murder-suicide.
SUSPECT: Johnathan Lee Whitlatch, 33-years-old from Boone, Iowa.
MOTIVE: Whitlatch and Eden Moriah Montang had recently broken up from a relationship. According to Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, Whitlatch was arrested on May 31, 2022 for a “domestic incident.” Whitlatch was charged by the Ames Police Department for harassment against Montang and impersonating a public official [claiming to be a police officer], in addition to using a false name. A restraining order was obtained by Montang against Whitlatch, who was scheduled to appear in court on June 10, 2022.
WEAPONS USED: 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
INJURIES: 2 women dead (Vivian Renee Flores, 21-years-old, and Eden Moriah Montang, 22 years-years-old, both students of Iowa State University), a third woman escaped unharmed.
SITUATION: The church was having their first meeting of Salt Company, which is a youth ministry Bible study, in the church auditorium. There were 80 high school and college students attending. The victims had just arrived at the location and were in the parking lot. Whitlatch arrived in his pickup truck in the same church parking lot and immediately opened fired upon Montang and the women near her.
RED ACTION: An hour before the shooting Whitlatch bought 9 mm ammunition [a receipt was collected as evidence from the pickup truck]. As soon as the shooter arrived in the parking lot in a pickup truck, he immediately fired several rounds at Montang and the women near her. After shooting Montang and Flores he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
BLUE ACTION: There was no mention by the church, witnesses, or the media of of any security trained parking lot attendants or ushers, nor an armed church security team being present during the shooting. When the police arrived at the crime scene the shooter was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The authorities obtained two search warrants (one for his home and one for his pickup truck), and recovered Whitlatch’s “equipment,” electronic records, and files.
JIM WAGNER’S COMMENTARY: Based on today’s information, there was no church security team (unarmed or armed) present during the event. Ideally, every church event, especially those with large numbers, should have at least one trained undercover church security agent (preferably armed) and one church usher trained in tactical observation, both linked with radio communications.
Church security does not just begin at the church property’s perimeter, but it should include the surrounding neighborhood as well. I recommend that a trained observer at a key point, and more if available, be placed outside of the church perimeter to see if any suspicious vehicles or persons are approaching the property. If so, then there will be more reaction time for those personnel in the parking lot, and church security officers can start preparing and responding accordingly. Such observers can blend into the environment by “waiting at a bus stop,” walking a dog, or doing surveillance from inside of a vehicle.
At a minimum, there should always be a parking lot attendant, or a team of them, who are trained in observing suspicious activity, persons, or items. This is the second layer of defense for the church (the “onion method” of security). If they see something suspicious (If you see something, say something) then that information can be radioed to the armed security team, if the church has one. If there is no armed security present (for many churches don’t see a need for one despite all the worldwide physical attacks on churches and God’s people) then at least a verbal warning to lockdown or a shout, “Run for your lives!” can be given.
This shooting highlights just how fast an armed attack can happen. Therefore, church congregants, staff, clergy, and church security must be ready for it. In the case of a parking lot shooting, where you are not the first target, the immediate action to be taken is to get behind cover (behind a vehicle, and more specifically behind the engine block or behind a wheel rim) or “hit the deck,” which is the first technique Soldiers are taught for combat, if there is no cover and you’re out in the open. Such split-second decisions require training for muscle memory, and realistic training scenarios is the way to accomplish it. One female victim managed to escape the shooting unharmed, but no details of how she did it have come out yet.
The general rule to gun disarms is IF YOU CAN TOUCH THE GUN, YOU CAN TAKE THE GUN. Obviously, the opposite holds true, IF YOU CANNOT TOUCH THE GUN, YOU CANNOT TAKE THE GUN without getting shot or killed (provided the firearm is loaded and good working condition). Current reports do not provide the distance between the gunman and the victims. Even if you CANNOT TAKE THE GUN there are some methods to survive, such as the JIM WAGNER CRESENT RUSH or MOVEMENT UNDER FIRE. These techniques will eventually be on video, and made public on this website www.GodsArmySurvivalTraining.com
Today’s church security teams should be trained for pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict situations. I always tell churches that seek to hire me or get consultation, “You basically have to have a “mini police department” within the church to deal with the multitude of threats that can occur. If not that, then at least a decade small Special Operations unit.” The alternative to not having any security, in a worse case incident such as an active shooter, is:
1. A Blue on Blue situation (anyone wanting to do something will be on their own, and there will be lack of teamwork, possible crossfire, and possible unintentional casualties). Blue is the tactical term for “the good guys.”
2. A massacre with no help to stop it until after the incident is over.
Techniques, tactics, and training methods for church security should include: hand-to-hand combat, SWAT, Executive Protection, anti-terrorism and counterterrorism (small arms attacks and weapons of mass destruction), countersniper, countersurveillance, and tactical medic training. Sadly, all of this fieldcraft must be studied and mastered today by "Christian Soldiers" to provide an adequate response to the increasing physical violence against God's people. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Nehemiah 4:17-18
LOCATION: Cornerstone Church at 56829 US Hwy 30 in Ames, Iowa, USA
TYPE OF ATTACK: Church shooting “domestic situation,” murder-suicide.
SUSPECT: Johnathan Lee Whitlatch, 33-years-old from Boone, Iowa.
MOTIVE: Whitlatch and Eden Moriah Montang had recently broken up from a relationship. According to Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, Whitlatch was arrested on May 31, 2022 for a “domestic incident.” Whitlatch was charged by the Ames Police Department for harassment against Montang and impersonating a public official [claiming to be a police officer], in addition to using a false name. A restraining order was obtained by Montang against Whitlatch, who was scheduled to appear in court on June 10, 2022.
WEAPONS USED: 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
INJURIES: 2 women dead (Vivian Renee Flores, 21-years-old, and Eden Moriah Montang, 22 years-years-old, both students of Iowa State University), a third woman escaped unharmed.
SITUATION: The church was having their first meeting of Salt Company, which is a youth ministry Bible study, in the church auditorium. There were 80 high school and college students attending. The victims had just arrived at the location and were in the parking lot. Whitlatch arrived in his pickup truck in the same church parking lot and immediately opened fired upon Montang and the women near her.
RED ACTION: An hour before the shooting Whitlatch bought 9 mm ammunition [a receipt was collected as evidence from the pickup truck]. As soon as the shooter arrived in the parking lot in a pickup truck, he immediately fired several rounds at Montang and the women near her. After shooting Montang and Flores he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
BLUE ACTION: There was no mention by the church, witnesses, or the media of of any security trained parking lot attendants or ushers, nor an armed church security team being present during the shooting. When the police arrived at the crime scene the shooter was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The authorities obtained two search warrants (one for his home and one for his pickup truck), and recovered Whitlatch’s “equipment,” electronic records, and files.
JIM WAGNER’S COMMENTARY: Based on today’s information, there was no church security team (unarmed or armed) present during the event. Ideally, every church event, especially those with large numbers, should have at least one trained undercover church security agent (preferably armed) and one church usher trained in tactical observation, both linked with radio communications.
Church security does not just begin at the church property’s perimeter, but it should include the surrounding neighborhood as well. I recommend that a trained observer at a key point, and more if available, be placed outside of the church perimeter to see if any suspicious vehicles or persons are approaching the property. If so, then there will be more reaction time for those personnel in the parking lot, and church security officers can start preparing and responding accordingly. Such observers can blend into the environment by “waiting at a bus stop,” walking a dog, or doing surveillance from inside of a vehicle.
At a minimum, there should always be a parking lot attendant, or a team of them, who are trained in observing suspicious activity, persons, or items. This is the second layer of defense for the church (the “onion method” of security). If they see something suspicious (If you see something, say something) then that information can be radioed to the armed security team, if the church has one. If there is no armed security present (for many churches don’t see a need for one despite all the worldwide physical attacks on churches and God’s people) then at least a verbal warning to lockdown or a shout, “Run for your lives!” can be given.
This shooting highlights just how fast an armed attack can happen. Therefore, church congregants, staff, clergy, and church security must be ready for it. In the case of a parking lot shooting, where you are not the first target, the immediate action to be taken is to get behind cover (behind a vehicle, and more specifically behind the engine block or behind a wheel rim) or “hit the deck,” which is the first technique Soldiers are taught for combat, if there is no cover and you’re out in the open. Such split-second decisions require training for muscle memory, and realistic training scenarios is the way to accomplish it. One female victim managed to escape the shooting unharmed, but no details of how she did it have come out yet.
The general rule to gun disarms is IF YOU CAN TOUCH THE GUN, YOU CAN TAKE THE GUN. Obviously, the opposite holds true, IF YOU CANNOT TOUCH THE GUN, YOU CANNOT TAKE THE GUN without getting shot or killed (provided the firearm is loaded and good working condition). Current reports do not provide the distance between the gunman and the victims. Even if you CANNOT TAKE THE GUN there are some methods to survive, such as the JIM WAGNER CRESENT RUSH or MOVEMENT UNDER FIRE. These techniques will eventually be on video, and made public on this website www.GodsArmySurvivalTraining.com
Today’s church security teams should be trained for pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict situations. I always tell churches that seek to hire me or get consultation, “You basically have to have a “mini police department” within the church to deal with the multitude of threats that can occur. If not that, then at least a decade small Special Operations unit.” The alternative to not having any security, in a worse case incident such as an active shooter, is:
1. A Blue on Blue situation (anyone wanting to do something will be on their own, and there will be lack of teamwork, possible crossfire, and possible unintentional casualties). Blue is the tactical term for “the good guys.”
2. A massacre with no help to stop it until after the incident is over.
Techniques, tactics, and training methods for church security should include: hand-to-hand combat, SWAT, Executive Protection, anti-terrorism and counterterrorism (small arms attacks and weapons of mass destruction), countersniper, countersurveillance, and tactical medic training. Sadly, all of this fieldcraft must be studied and mastered today by "Christian Soldiers" to provide an adequate response to the increasing physical violence against God's people. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Nehemiah 4:17-18