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At least 20 killed in shooting at Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas At least 26 killed in shooting at Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas
(about 2 hours later)
A single shooter walked into a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday morning and opened fire as the congregation was in its weekly service, leaving at least 20 worshippers dead and many more injured. A single shooter walked into a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday morning and opened fire, leaving at least 26 worshippers dead and many more injured.
The precise number of those killed and wounded at First Baptist church, in the small town 30 miles south-east of San Antonio, remained unconfirmed. Nor was it known who carried out the attack. The number of the dead at the First Baptist church, in the small town 30 miles south-east of San Antonio, made the killing the worst mass shooting in modern Texas history and one of the worst such gun rampages in recent years. The lone shooter was killed as he was being chased by police across county lines.
San Antonio Express-News reported that according to federal agents the number of dead could be as high as 28. Other local dispatches suggested that was about half of the worshippers in attendance. In a Sunday evening press conference, Texas governor Greg Abbott said: “There are so many families who have lost family members, and it occurred in a church, in a place of worship. That’s where these people were mown down. We mourn their loss.”
The single suspect was killed after a brief pursuit that crossed county lines into neighbouring Guadalupe County, as he tried to flee. It was not clear if the suspect took his own life or was brought down by law enforcers. Twenty three worshippers died inside the church, two outside it and one after being taken to hospital. Many more injured were still being treated. The ages of the dead ranged from five to 70.
Donald Trump, who is on a five-country tour in Asia, tweeted: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.” Law enforcement officials at the press conference did not name the gunman, though his name was reported elsewhere. Freeman Martin of the Texas department of public safety gave a brief timeline of events.
In a statement, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas said: “While the details of this horrific act are still under investigation, Cecilia and I want to send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by this evil act.” At around 11.20am the suspect, described as a white male in his early 20s, was seen at a gas station over the road from the church.
A local television station, KSAT, reported that two Airlife helicopters were at the scene and broadcast video of several fire and police vehicles at the church and a photograph of a helicopter the station said was arriving to take victims to hospitals. At least 10 victims, several with gunshot wounds, were taken to Connally Memorial Medical Center in Floresville. Eight others were taken to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He was dressed all in black in tactical-style clothes including a ballistic vest. He crossed the road and as he approached the church he began shooting, carrying on the firing as he entered the place of worship itself.
Witnesses close to the small church reported hearing a rapid barrage of about 20 gunshots. “It was very close,” Carrie Matula, who had been working in a store across the street from the church, told CNN. “It was semi-automatic, rapid fire. This is just devastating in a small town like this.” After the carnage, as he was leaving the church, he was engaged by a local resident carrying a rifle. The shooter dropped his own weapon, a Ruger assault rifle, and fled.
Pastor Frank Buford of the neighbouring River Oaks church, just a few blocks away from the scene of the shooting, said relatives of victims had started to congregate at a makeshift community centre where water and food was being brought. He was pursued by police and just as he reached Guadalupe County his vehicle veered off the road. He was found in the car dead, it is not known whether by his own hand or having been shot by a local resident.
“We’re holding up as well as we can – we are a strong community, we are strong in our faith,” he told local reporters. The scale of the shooting, and its location in a Baptist church in the south, presented Donald Trump with a renewed gun dilemma just as he embarked on a five-country tour in Asia. In his opening response to the massacre, the president tweeted: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.”
Buford described Sutherland Springs, which has only about 400 residents, as a close-knit community. “We have a post office, two churches and a dollar store,” he said. His church received word that a shooting was under way at their sister place of worship at about 11.15am local time. “We started praying for everyone involved in it,” he said. The shooting led to dramatic scenes in the tiny community of Sutherland Springs. A local television station, KSAT, reported that two Airlife helicopters were on hand to take victims to hospitals. At least 10 were taken to Connally Memorial Medical Center in Floresville. Eight others were sent to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
The pastor of First Baptist, Frank Pomeroy, and his wife Sherri were out of town on Sunday and not present when the shooting happened. But in a text to Associated Press, Sherri Pomeroy said their 14-year-old daughter had died inside the church. Witnesses reported hearing a rapid barrage of about 20 gunshots. “It was very close,” Carrie Matula, who had been working in a store across the street, told CNN. “It was semi-automatic, rapid fire. This is just devastating in a small town like this.”
She added that in addition to her child, she had lost “many friends” in the massacre. Pastor Frank Buford of the neighbouring River Oaks church, just a few blocks away, said relatives of victims had started to congregate at a makeshift community centre. “We’re holding up as well as we can – we are a strong community, we are strong in our faith,” he told local reporters.
The shooting comes a month after a gunman opened fire on an open-air concert in Las Vegas, leaving 58 dead and 546 injured. The tiny nature of the location in Texas, which has just 400 residents, and the location inside one of two churches in the community, presents its own form of horror and challenges to first responders, law enforcers and community leaders. Buford described Sutherland Springs, which has only about a few hundred residents, as a close-knit community. “We have a post office, two churches and a dollar store,” he said. His church received word that a shooting was under way at their sister place of worship. “We started praying for everyone involved,” he said.
A reporter for the local CBS franchise, KENS5, who was at the scene moments after the shooting began, said Sutherland Springs was a community where “everybody knows everybody going generations back”. The pastor of First Baptist, Frank Pomeroy, and his wife Sherri were out of town when the shooting happened. In a text to Associated Press, Sherri Pomeroy said their 14-year-old daughter had died inside the church. She added that she had also lost “many friends” in the massacre.
“Most people have lived here their whole lives,” the reporter said. The shooting comes a month after a gunman opened fire on an open-air concert in Las Vegas, leaving 58 dead and 546 injured. After that, Trump showed himself to be reluctant to get involved in the debate around gun control, limiting himself to sending his prayers to the victims and their families.
As the FBI and local law enforcers begin to piece together what happened, it is possible that they will be assisted by the church’s own video footage. First Baptist was in the habit of recording all its Sunday services and posting them on YouTube. That was in stark contrast to the rapid and virulent response he had to the truck attack in New York last week, where eight people were mowed down by a driver inspired by the terrorist group Isis. After that attack, Trump called for a crackdown on immigration rules.
As the FBI and local law enforcers begin to piece together what happened, it is possible they will be assisted by the church’s own video footage. First Baptist was in the habit of recording all its Sunday services and posting them on YouTube.
The recordings capture a homely, small church with many small children in attendance, copious flowers and plenty of singing to the accompaniment of electric and accoustic guitars. On one recent Sunday a Harley-Davidson motorbike was parked in front of the altar.The recordings capture a homely, small church with many small children in attendance, copious flowers and plenty of singing to the accompaniment of electric and accoustic guitars. On one recent Sunday a Harley-Davidson motorbike was parked in front of the altar.
Nannette Kilbey-Smith, editor of the local Wilson County News, told CNN First Baptist was “your quintessential small community church. White painted, wood pews, small-town America, where people go to worship and pray and gather and celebrate – it’s a very vibrant church.” As the sun began to set on Sunday, reporters and locals gathered on the edge of a police cordon about 50m from the church, whose sign was still advertising a “fall festival” from 31 October.
Struggling for words, David Johnson, whose daughter used to live opposite the church, said he was stunned such violence would be wreaked upon a small, quiet community – but that the scale of the violence would be horrific in any context.
“This is a shock anywhere that it would happen,” he said.