KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The man accused in a fatal church shooting that left two people dead and six wounded was indicted on murder charges Aug. 20.

A Knox County grand jury indicted Jim D. Adkisson on two charges of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted first-degree murder. The 58-year-old Powell man is being held on $1 million bond.

Adkisson is accused in the July 27 shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. A gunman walked into the sanctuary during a children’s musical performance and fired three lethal blasts into the group of about 200 before being wrestled to the floor.

The two slain victims were Greg McKendry, a 60-year-old usher and church officer who was hailed as a hero for shielding others from gunfire, and 61-year-old Linda Kraeger, a retired English professor who had come to see a friend’s grandchild perform in the church play.

Public defender Mark Stephens said after a court hearing earlier this month that he wanted to have Adkisson’s mental state evaluated as soon as possible after an indictment was delivered.

Tennessee law requires that a case reach the criminal court level before the defense receives money to pay for a mental evaluation.

Stephens’ office declined comment last week, but said at the earlier hearing that Adkisson plans an insanity defense.

Police say Adkisson targeted the church because of its liberal leanings, citing a letter they found in his small sport utility vehicle in the church parking lot and a statement he allegedly gave after the shooting.

Police Chief Sterling Owen said Adkisson bought the shotgun at a pawn shop about a month before the shooting, and his letter was written about a week before the tragedy.

In the letter, Adkisson indicated he intentionally targeted the church because “he hated the liberal movement” and was upset with “liberals in general as well as gays,” police have said.

The FBI has been involved in the investigation as a possible hate crime.

The 400-member church has a long history of supporting liberal issues and causes, including racial desegregation, environmentalism, women’s rights and gay rights.