Man Dies After Walking Into Dallas Church

A man stumbled into a Dallas church Monday morning and died, and now investigators are trying to figure out what happened.

The incident happened during a prayer meeting at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship on Camp Wisdom Road shortly after 6 a.m.

Police said the 43-year-old man pulled up in his car and spoke to a church member in the parking lot. When the parishioner noticed the man was bleeding from the neck, the church member went inside to call 911.

The man followed, but once inside the door he lunged at someone inside the church.

"He said a few things while he was having a conversation. Nothing really made sense to the individuals that were there. None of them knew him. They had never seen him before,” said Dallas police Lt. Barbara Hobbs.

Church members subdued the man who then died before paramedics arrived. Dallas Police Maj. Max Geron identified the man as Linton Wilgus.

"What they need to know is that this was a nonmember," said Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship senior pastor Dr. Tony Evans. "This was a nonmember. Our members are OK. Our members are doing fine. This was a nonmember who was affected by this emergency."

Evans said no one at the church knew who the man was who came inside needing help.

"We know he was not injured at this church," said Dallas police spokesperson Demarquis Black. "He wandered to this location and asked for help."

Authorities are not really sure how he died.

A gray Ford Mustang was towed from the scene after the victim's body had been removed.

“There was a significant amount of blood in the vehicle, and so we’re not exactly sure whether it was from loss of blood or what happened inside the church itself,” Hobbs said.

Now, Dallas police are trying to figure out what happened and reassure church members and neighbors.

“There’s no relationship we are aware to the church, and there’s no indication that any of the church members need to be concerned," said Dallas Police Maj. Jeff Cotner.

Evans said the main worship center where the man died will be closed to the public until the investigation wraps up.

"We are just glad our members are safe," said Evans. "We want to find out what happened to the nonmember."

The church's educational center located across the street was not shut down due to this incident.

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