Fort Worth paused this week to honor the memory of seven people killed and seven others wounded when a gunman opened fire inside Wedgwood Baptist Church on September 15, 1999, during a youth gathering that would change the community forever.
According to Pastor Emeritus Al Meredith, the attacker arrived at the church carrying a cigarette and immediately shot the first person who greeted him, church custodian Jeff Laster. The gunman then moved through the building, shooting 13 people in total before turning the weapon on himself.
The City of Fort Worth acknowledged the anniversary through a social media post honoring victims, survivors, first responders, and the entire Wedgwood congregation. “While the years have passed, we know that time does not erase the memories or the impact of such a tragedy” the city wrote, also recognizing the strength and resilience shown by the Fort Worth community in the decades since.
Meredith, who has led remembrance efforts at the church over the years, has long encouraged the congregation to focus on what he calls the miracles of that night rather than solely on the grief. As a physical reminder of both the tragedy and the survival, the church has deliberately preserved a bullet hole in one of its doors.
“We’ve still got the bullet hole there just to remind us of what God spared us” Meredith said. The visible mark serves as a permanent testament to the lives lost and the lives that were spared that evening.
The 1999 attack remains one of the most devastating acts of mass violence in Fort Worth history and left a lasting mark on the congregation and the broader North Texas community. Survivors, families of victims, and church members have gathered each year to reflect on the lives taken and to reaffirm the bonds that formed in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Twenty-seven years later, Wedgwood Baptist Church continues to stand as a place of worship and remembrance, its congregation carrying forward both the weight of that night and the enduring spirit of those who survived it.