MOSHEIM, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Mosheim Church of God held their first church service on Sunday since the death of their pastor following a shooting at a White Pine gas station.
Ken Cook was a well-known member of the community and had been a pastor at the church for five years.
Sunday’s church service had a focus on remembering the man that Cook was.
“Mr. Cook was a great man,” said church member and friend of Pastor Cook, Jeff Hale. “Anything that you needed, he would drop everything to come and help you. He never met a stranger. He was a leader in the church, we loved that man.
“I know he was in the Army, and his wife was in the Air Force. That makes him an upstanding person. We’ve got to respect people who serve in our military.”
Hale also added that the church was shocked to hear the news about something they thought would never happen.
“If you knew our pastor, you’d have never thought nothing would ever happen to him like that because he got along with everybody,” added Hale.
The shooting that killed Cook occurred at a Pilot gas station in White Pine on Monday, Jan. 3. The details are still unclear at this time; however, when officers responded to the incident, they found three injured people on the scene.
One person, Christopher Ray Welch, was pronounced dead on the scene.
The two others, pastor Cook and 16-year-old girl Teagan Welch, were taken to a hospital for treatment but later died.
