Church attack kills 3; suspect arrested

A 70-year-old man fatally shot three elderly people with a handgun during a potluck dinner at an Alabama church where he occasionally attended services, police said Friday.

Police said church members were spared further violence at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills on Thursday evening when someone at the dinner subdued the gunman and held him until police arrived.

The suspect, Robert Findlay Smith, was charged with capital murder Friday, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said in a statement.

“It was extremely critical in saving lives,” police Capt. Shane Ware said. “The person that subdued the suspect, in my opinion, was a hero.”

Ware said Smith and the three victims were all white. He said police are still investigating what motivated the suspect.

Walter Rainey, 84, of Irondale was killed at the church and Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham died after being taken to a hospital. The third victim, an 84-year-old woman who was not identified, died Friday at a hospital, police said.

The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the church’s associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page Friday. Bridges, who is currently in London, alluded to other recent mass shootings as she prayed that elected officials in Washington and Alabama “will see what has happened at St. Stephens and Uvalde and Buffalo and in so many other places and their hearts will be changed, minds will be opened.”

“And that our culture will change and that our laws will change in ways that will protect all of us,” she added.