( CNN ) -- A sheriff says he 's closer to finding the motive behind the fatal shooting of a Louisiana pastor who witnesses say was killed by a former deacon as the horrified congregation looked on . Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said Tuesday the alleged gunman 's wife had filed a rape complaint with police against Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center pastor Ronald Harris on September 25 , two days before the shooting . In the complaint , the woman said Harris had raped her several months ago , according to Mancuso . He declined to release the report , saying it was part of the murder investigation against former church deacon Woodrow Karey . Mancuso said he had not determined whether a rape had occurred . Witnesses told police that Karey walked into the Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center around 8:20 p.m. Friday and shot Harris twice -- the first time as Karey entered the church and then again at close range after Harris had fallen to the floor . Deputies arrested Karey after he called 911 and told the dispatcher what he had done . He is charged with second-degree murder . Karey told authorities that a week earlier he 'd found text messages from his wife to the pastor . He believed , Mancuso said , that they were having sex and he confronted his wife . Days after the confrontation , Karey 's wife filed the police report accusing the pastor of rape , Mancuso said . Authorities had not yet investigated the rape accusation by Karey 's wife . `` We had not had an opportunity yet , '' Mancuso said . `` Before we go to an accuser , we like to get the facts straight before we begin questioning . '' Talisha Harris , the pastor 's daughter , was in the church when her father was gunned down . She said Karey entered the Lake Charles church as she was leading the 65 people in the sanctuary in the singing of `` Our God is a Great God . '' Karey fired his shotgun almost immediately , hitting a plant , Talisha Harris said . The second shotgun blast struck Ronald Harris in the back . Then , Karey approached the fallen pastor , fired once more and `` stood there to watch him take his last breath , '' she said . The gunman ran , leaving a church in chaos . `` People were screaming , '' Talisha Harris said . `` They were under the pews . '' The slain pastor 's son , Ronald Harris Jr. , told CNN Monday that the family was `` trying to be strong . '' He said his father and Karey had been close friends . Armed in church . While rare , church violence is not unheard of . In 2012 , a former maintenance employee fatally shot a church volunteer at a house of worship just outside of Atlanta . Earlier that year , six people were killed at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin by a white supremacist who then killed himself . Shreveport , Louisiana , pastor Ed Gonzalez said he was once approached by someone in his office with apparently violent intent , CNN affiliate KSLA reported . `` He walked in my office and told me God told him to take me out , '' the station quoted Gonzalez as saying . The man eventually backed off , but the experience led Gonzalez to conclude the churches are easy targets . He now carries a weapon , as do several other members of his church . `` Pastors need to awake and realize that we live in a world of turmoil , hatred and bitterness , so they have to do something to protect those sheep , '' he told KSLA . `` As long as there is sin on this earth we 're going to have violence . '' CNN 's Tina Burnside and Rick Martin contributed to this report .
NEW : Slain pastor 's family `` trying to be strong , '' son says . Investigators are trying to sort out whether rape or affair played role in killing , sheriff says . Pastor Ronald J. Harris was singing when gunman entered . Woodrow Karey , a church deacon , has been charged with second-degree murder .