(CNN) On that awful Sunday morning, they were just strangers, trying to stop an act of unspeakable evil.

On Monday night, they reunited as heroes, hailed for the actions they took that helped end the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.

Stephen Willeford and Johnnie Langendorff hugged each other at a vigil held for the 26 killed and more than 20 wounded in the shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

When Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire inside the church on Sunday, Stephen Willeford, who lives near the church, grabbed his own gun and ran out of the house barefoot to confront the gunman.

"I kept hearing the shots, one after another, very rapid shots - just 'pop pop pop pop' and I knew every one of those shots represented someone, that it was aimed at someone, that they weren't just random shots," Willeford told CNN affiliate KHBS.

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