Man in SWAT Gear Wanted in Church Murder

Terri Bevers killed before fitness class on Monday
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 19, 2016 8:17 AM CDT

Police are searching for a man clad in SWAT gear after a fitness instructor was found murdered inside a Texas church on Monday. Terri "Missy" Bevers, 45, arrived at the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, 25 miles southwest of Dallas, around 4:20am and was found dead by students who arrived for a 5am fitness class, reports Fox News. Surveillance cameras didn't capture what happened, but they show a man dressed in police SWAT gear—including a helmet, gloves, and vest—inside the building around 3:50am, per NBC DFW. "He is designed to look like a police officer," says the Midlothian police chief. "His intent was to look like a police officer." Police aren't saying how Bevers died—an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday—but there were signs of a struggle. WFAA reports she was shot inside the church while moving items from her truck.

Police, who also found signs of forced entry, say the man may have been planning to rob the place, though nothing was taken. Bevers may have also been targeted after posting about the workout session on Facebook. "We have a very safe community. In fact, it's going to be the first event of my tenure here in almost 10 years. Nothing like this happened here before," Midlothian's police chief says. Bevers' husband adds the mother of three girls under 16 "was very passionate about transforming people's lives, physically and mentally," per Fox 4. "I pray that whoever did this would be caught. And I pray for all of the people who cared so much about my wife." A $10,000 reward for information on the case is up for grabs. (More Texas stories.)

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