Man shot babies at point-blank range

The gunman who killed 26 people at a small-town Texas church went aisle to aisle looking for victims and shot crying babies at point-blank range, a couple who survived the attack said.

Rosanne Solis and Joaquin Ramirez were sitting near the entrance to the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs on Sunday when they heard what sounded like firecrackers and realised someone was shooting at the tiny woodframed building.

Ms Solis said congregants began screaming and dropped to the floor. She could see bullets flying into the carpet and fellow worshippers falling down after getting hit.

For a moment, the attack seemed to stop, and worshippers thought police had arrived to confront the gunman — 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley — but then he entered the church and resumed “shooting hard” at helpless families, she added. The gunman checked each aisle for more victims, including babies who cried out, Mr Ramirez said.

The couple survived by huddling close to the ground and playing dead. Ms Solis was shot in the arm and Mr Ramirez was hit by shrapnel.

Another 20 people were wounded.

Investigators collected at l east 15 empty magazines that held 30 rounds each, suggesting Kelley fired at least 450 rounds.

Later it emerged Kelley had been treated at a mental health centre in New Mexico and briefly escaped in 2012. He was also caught trying to bring guns onto Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico when he was stationed there, according to an El Paso police report. Kelley, who was 21 at the time, had made death threats against superior officers, the report said.

The news emerged as investigators continued analysing the scene of the massacre and tried to gain access to the gunman’s mobile phone, a long-standing challenge for the FBI in thousands of cases.

Investigators have no reason to believe anyone conspired with Kelley, who acted alone. A spokesman repeated earlier statements that the shooting appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, who sometimes attended services at the church but was not present on Sunday.

Kelley had a history of domestic violence that spanned years and was able buy weapons because the Air Force did not submit his criminal history from his time in the military to the FBI. If Kelley’s past offences had been properly shared, they would have prevented him from buying a gun, the Air Force has acknowledged.

SHEEP have demonstrated the ability to recognise faces of famous people, including former US President Barack Obama. The animals were already known to respond to familiar faces, both of other members of their own species and humans. In the new study...

The church