Lone gunman attacks Texas church, kills 26
WASHINGTON: A lone gunman opened fire on a church congregation during a Sunday morning service in a rural town in Texas, killing 26 people and wounding 20 more in yet another mass shooting in the United States a little more than a month after the massacre in Las Vegas.
The victims ranged in age from five to 72, and included the 14-year-old daughter of the pastor of the church, a pregnant woman, and children.
Authorities said 23 people died within the church at Sutherland Springs, two outside, and one in hospital. Some of the injured were in a serious condition.
The shooter, who took his own life and was found in his car a short distance from the church, was identified as Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26-year-old from Houston.
President Donald Trump, away on a 12-day five-nation tour of Asia, told reporters in Tokyo the shooting was more about mental health issues and less about “a guns situation” as the shooter seemed to a “very deranged” individual.
He said: “This isn’t a guns situation. I mean, we could go into it but it’s a little bit soon to go into it. But, fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise it would have been – as bad it was, it would have been much worse.”
Wilson county sheriff Joe Tackitt said he did not know Kelley’s motive, but the shooter’s in-laws lived in a nearby town and had previously attended the church on several occasions.
Kelley had served in the US Air Force but was court-martialled in 2012 for assaulting his wife and child. He was sentenced to 12 months’ confinement and discharged with a “bad conduct” mark in 2014.