Pence consoles victims
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS (Texas): United States Vice-President Mike Pence met survivors and victims’ families here on Wednesday, as officials identified those killed in a mass shooting at a rural church, including eight children.
They were among the 26 killed when Devin Patrick Kelley sprayed the First Baptist Church with bullets during Sunday service last weekend.
A sombre Pence, accompanied by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, spoke in front of the church, and said he and wife, Karen, had arrived in the town with “a heavy heart”.
“Faith is stronger than evil. I’m here as vice-president to ensure that the full resources of the US are brought to bear. The American people are with you. We will never leave your side.”
Video of the attack, captured by a camera that recorded services for online posting, showed Kelley executing people, according to The New York Times.
The attack lasted seven minutes and the gunman methodically shot his victims, including children, in the head.
Seven children died at the scene, and Emily Garcia, 7, died later at a hospital, police said.
Multiple members of families were killed, including three generations of the Holcombe family — 1-year-old Noah, the youngest among them.
The unborn child of Crystal Holcombe, who was pregnant, was also listed among the dead.
“Regarding our baby, we don’t know if it was a boy or a girl. It was too soon to tell,” her husband, John, said.
He thanked well-wishers for their “love, prayers and support.”