One family loses 8 people, including pregnant woman
Friends, kin recall lives cut down at house of worship.
Twenty-six people were gunned down during Sunday services at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, including eight family members that spanned three generations.
Investigators have not publicly released the names of victims, but family members and friends of victims have identified some of them online and in media reports.
Here are some of their names:
Annabelle Pomeroy, 14, daughter of Frank Pomeroy, First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs pastor, and Sherri Pomeroy, who were out of town at the time of the shooting, according to the Associated Press.
Pomeroy was a seventh-grade student at Briesemeister Middle School in the Seguin school district, according to the district’s superintendent.
“We have had a long night with our children and grandchildren we have left,” Frank Pomeroy said during a news conference Monday.
Sherri Pomeroy said that the church was a close-knit family.
“As senseless as this tragedy was, our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family yesterday,” she said.
Bryan Holcombe, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.
According to The Washington Post, he was filling in for Frank Pomeroy and about to lead the congregation in worship when Devin Kelley started to shoot.
Bryan Holcombe’s Facebook profile picture shows a faded photo of him when he was young, holding hands with his wife Karla, perhaps sometime around 1972, according to a comment by Bryan.
His previous four profile pictures boast his grandchildren.
“We knew when he was born, that he was going to be a preacher,” his father Joe Holcombe told the Post. “His first word was ‘God.’”
Holcombe also participated in prison ministry, where he would sing and play the ukulele for prisoners, according to the AP.
Karla Plain Holcombe, Bryan Holcombe’s wife of about 40 years, according to The Washington Post.
On Facebook, Karla Plain Holcombe posted pictures of her grandchildren baking in the kitchen. Her last post shared First Baptist Church’s Fall Festival event. Strangers have begun to comment on the post, giving their condolences to the Holcombe family.
The Fall Festival was the last time family friend Jenna Brown saw Karla Holcombe, Brown told the Daily Beast.
“She was joking and just as happy as always,” Brown said.
Marc Daniel Holcombe, 36, Bryan and Karla Holcombe’s son.
Noah Holcombe, 1, Marc Daniel Holcombe’s daughter.
Crystal Holcombe, Bryan and Karla Holcombe’s daughter-in-law and wife of their son John Holcombe; she was pregnant. She home-schooled her five children, The Washington Post reported.
Crystal’s first husband, Peter Hill, died in 2011, according to Hill’s Facebook page.
Emily Hill, Crystal Holcombe’s daughter.
Megan Hill, Crystal Holcombe’s daughter.
Greg Hill, Crystal Holcombe’s son.
As of early Monday evening, a GoFundMe page created for the Holcombe family’s survivors raised more than $160,000 of a $250,000 goal.
Joann Ward, a wonderful mom who gave her children a loving life, according to a GoFundMe page created by her uncle John Alexander. She is survived by her husband and two of her children who were in the church.
Brooke Ward, 5, Joann Ward’s daughter.
Emily Garza, 7, Joann Ward’s daughter.
Lula White, grandmother-in-law of shooter Devin Kelley, according to CNN.
The network reported that White volunteered frequently at the church.
Tara McNulty, worked at the Aumont Saloon in Seguin, according to a Facebook post about a fundraiser in her honor.
Her children were injured in the attack, according to the post.
Kevin Koenen, manager at the Aumont Saloon, told the American-Statesman Tara McNulty worked for him for three years.
“She was a great person — a great mother,” Koenen said. “She just had a big heart. She was willing to do anything and everything.”
Haley Krueger, 16, loved babies and wanted to become a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit, according to a GoFundMe page.
Dennis Johnson, whose son-in-law confirmed his and his wife’s death on social media.
Sara Johnson, Dennis Johnson’s wife.