A 25-year-old man has been charged with federal firearms crimes after prosecutors say he tried to break into a Texas church while armed with a tactical rifle.
Russell Alan Ragsdale was arrested Nov. 22 and appeared before federal judge Renee Harris Tolliver on Monday morning, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
According to court documents, Ragsdale entered a Dallas-area church around 5:05 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2023, during a mass attended by about 100 parishioners. Prosecutors say that after attending the church service, he returned to his car, took a rifle from the trunk, and then tried to close three gates leading to the parking lot.
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At 5:35 p.m., Ragsdale tried to re-enter the church with a rifle, but was unable to do so because parishioners locked the door, prosecutors said.
The investigation into the church incident also revealed what authorities say is a connection to previous shootings involving Ragsdale.
In February 2022, Ragsdale was arrested in the Dallas suburb of Seagoville on a felony charge of murdering his roommate. The murder case was later dismissed, but prosecutors said Ragsdale told law enforcement that his roommate had attacked him and that he had fired “multiple times” in self-defense.
During the arrest, officers recovered three firearms, including a 10mm Glock and an AR-15 rifle, and approximately 2 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Authorities said analysis of Ragsdale’s cell phone revealed a history of drug use dating back to November 2021, including evidence of purchasing and using hallucinogenic mushrooms in early 2022. That’s what it means.
Prosecutors say the illegal possession of a firearm charge is based on Ragsdale’s known drug use.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in federal prison.
U.S. prosecutors have not identified the church where the incident occurred.
A 2019 state law makes it legal to possess a handgun on the premises of a church or other place of worship after the attack on First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs that left 26 people dead and 20 injured. .
In 2022, a church in New York state filed a lawsuit over a new law banning guns in its houses of worship amid growing concerns about church safety.
The law firm First Liberty Institute represents His Tabernacle Family Church and the Rev. Michael Spencer in a lawsuit against the state’s new law banning the carrying of firearms in “sensitive areas,” including houses of worship. filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill S51001.
