DALLAS — A man who recently tried to enter a North Texas church with a tactical rifle was charged with a federal firearm crime stemming from a 2022 shooting, federal officials say.
Russell Alan Ragsdale, 25, was arrested Friday and made his initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver Monday for a possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance charge, officials say.
Ragsdale allegedly attended service at a church alongside about 100 parishioners celebrating Mass Nov. 2, then got the rifle from his car after the service and tried to go back in the church with it, according to court documents. Ragsdale wasn’t able to get back in the church, though, because parishioners had locked the door, officials say.
Federal officials didn’t share the name of the church.
During the investigation into the incident at the church, agents learned Ragsdale had been arrested in 2022 in connection with a fatal shooting in Seagoville, officials say. He had been charged with murder in connection with the February 2022 shooting of his roommate, but that charge was later dismissed, officials say.
At that time, Ragsdale told law enforcement that his roommate had attacked him and claimed he “shot him many times” in self-defense, according to federal officials.
Officers recovered three firearms, including a 10mm Glock and an AR-15 rifle, and almost two grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms from the residence, federal officials said in a news release.
“An analysis of Mr. Ragsdale’s phone showed a history of drug use dating back to November 2021, as well as evidence of purchasing and using hallucinogenic mushrooms on Feb. 2, 2022,” the press release states.
If convicted, Ragsdale faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
