By Nina Golgowski
The gunman is also dead, according to a local news outlet.
A shooting killed more than 20 people and left dozens injured at a church outside of San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, according to reports.
Paul W. Pfeil, a Wilson County, Texas, commissioner, told The New York Times the number of fatalities is “more than 20.” ABC News reported at least 27 people were killed, citing law enforcement sources, and that more than two dozen were injured.
A man reportedly walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs around 11:30 a.m. local time and began shooting, San Antonio TV station KSAT reported. The station, citing local police, reported that the gunman is dead and the FBI and Texas Rangers are at the scene.
It is unclear whether law officers killed the gunman or if he killed himself. The San Antonio Express-News reports police were checking for explosive devices at the suspect’s home with a K9 unit.
The church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told ABC News that his 14-year-old daughter is among those killed. The pastor was out of town at the time of the shooting, a Wilson County official told a reporter for San Antonio TV station KENS 5 in a Facebook video.
Other children are believed to be among the dead, the official said.
“He killed multiple people, he wounded many others, he himself is down,” the official told the reporter of the suspect, who has not been identified.
A witness at the scene told the station that the fatalities accounted for about half of the church’s congregation. University Hospital in San Antonio has reported taking in nine patients from the shooting ― five adults and four children. A 10th patient was expected. A spokesperson for Connally Memorial Medical Center in Floresville, Texas, told KENS 5 that they had taken in eight patients. Four of those patients were transported to University Hospital, two were discharged and two are said to be in stable condition.
The station also reported that a 2-year-old child is among the victims.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), in a post on Twitter Sunday afternoon, also responded to news of the shooting by calling it an “evil act.”
Our prayers are with all who were harmed by this evil act. Our thanks to law enforcement for their response. More details from DPS soon. twitter.com/jaketapper/sta…
Sutherland Springs is located about 35 miles east of San Antonio.
The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman murdered 58 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas before killing himself.
On Sept. 24, one woman was killed and seven people were injured in a shooting at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee. The alleged gunman in the Tennessee attack, Emanuel Samson, 25, was arrested at the scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment