26 killed in Texas church shooting
HOUSTON: A former US Air Force airman wearing a tactical gear and using an assault rifle opened fire on worshippers at a Sunday service at a church in Texas, killing at least 26 people and injuring 20 others in the latest gun-related massacre to shock the country.
The suspect wearing all black started firing at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs just after the Sunday morning service began, officials said. He was armed with a Ruger militarystyle rifle.
The victims ranged in age from 5 to 72, and among the dead were several children, a pregnant woman and the pastor s 14-yearold daughter. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.
Authorities confirmed that the church shooter was a heavily armed white male, in his 20’s, but refused to name him. But the media identified the gunman as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, who was discharged from the US Air Force in 2014.
Police said the gunman crossed the street in his vehicle, got out and began firing using a Ruger AR assault-type rifle.
He then moved to the right side of the church, continuing to fire and then into the building.
As he left, he was confronted by a resident who grabbed his rifle and then began to fire at him as he fled. The resident then chased the shooter who left the scene in his vehicle before leaving the road at the border with Guadalupe County.
He was found dead inside the vehicle, although authorities are not sure if the shooter died from a self- inflicted wound, or whether it was from the resident.
“The exact circumstances of the gunman’s death are still under investigation. The wounded individuals were transported to San Antonio Medical Centre, and University Hospital in San Anto- nio,” the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement said.
The San Antonio FBI branch said there was no indication of the gunman’s motive.
In a brief statement, the Pentagon said the suspect was an airman “at one point,” but additional details about his time in the Air Force were not immediately available.
The US officials said the suspect lived in a San Antonio suburb and didn’t appear to be linked to organised terrorist groups. The officials said investigators are looking at social media posts Kelley may have made in the days before Sunday’s attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon.
HOUSTON: A motorist is emerging as a hero in the Texas church shooting as he along with another man pursued the heavily armed gunman in a high-speed car chase after the deadly attack, preventing more casualties.
The gunman, identified as Devin Patrick Kelly 26, who was sporting a ballistic vest, opened fire on a small-town Texas church during the Sunday service, killing at least 26 people and wounding another 20.
Johnnie Langendorff was driving down near the church on his way to his girlfriend’s house, when the local man who too was armed with a rifle sought his help to pursue Kelly and prevent further mayhem.
Reacting to the incident, US President Donald Trump, who is in Japan, said it was fortunate that another person on the scene had a firearm, otherwise “it would have been much worse.”
Trump said it was fortunate that another person on the scene had a firearm, otherwise “it would have been much worse.”
Langendorff said not much was running through his head when the local man, whom he did not know, explained to him the situation, according to KSAT television news channel.
“The gentleman with the rifle came to my truck as the shooter took off, and he briefed me quickly on what had just happened, and said that we had to get him and so that’s what I did,” Langendorff said.
The chase ensued after the man exchanged gunfire at the church with Kelley, who then fled the scene.
“He just hurt so many people, and he just affected so many people’s lives ... Why wouldn’t you want to take him down?” he said about the attacker.
Eight members of a family, including a five-month pregnant woman and three of her children, were among 26 people killed when a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a church in the US state of Texas, according to media reports.
The attack during a Sunday morning service at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs also left about 20 people wounded.
The massacre was described as “the largest mass shooting” in the state history by its Governor Greg Abbott.
A man with a powerful assault rifle sprayed bullets on worshippers at a Sunday service at a rural church, killing at least 26 people, including 12-14 children in the latest gunrelated massacre to shock the country