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Updated 7.16am
THE COMMUNITY OF Sutherland Springs in south Texas comprises between 400 and 600 people.
The town’s First Baptist Church holds its Sunday service at 11am, which is usually attended by about 5o people. Twenty minutes after it got under way yesterday morning, a young man dressed in black and wearing a ballistic vest walked into the small, white building.
Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26-year-old former member of the US Air Force, opened fire with an assault rifle.
He shot 46 people, killing 26 of them and wounding another 20.
Among the dead were children, pregnant women and the elderly. The youngest was five years old; the eldest 72.
Twenty-three of the victims were found inside the church, while two were pronounced dead outside the building. A 26th died while being transported to hospital.
Of the injured, some are said to be in a critical condition raising fears the death toll could increase.
The rural community registered a population of 362 in 2000, according to the Handbook of Texas. It is thought that number has risen in recent years but Sutherland Springs remains a very small rural community about 50 kilometres southeast of San Antonio.
Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin told reporters last night how one of those residents “engaged” the gunman after he had exited the church.
“A local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect,” he explained.
The suspect dropped his rifle – which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle – and fled the church.
“A local citizen pursued the suspect at that time. A short time later… that suspect ran off the roadway… He was found deceased in his vehicle. At this time, we don’t know if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if he was shot by a local resident who engaged him in gun fire.”
A number of other weapons were found in his vehicle which he crashed off the road near the border between Wilson and Guadalupe counties.
The as-yet anonymous neighbour was not injured in the pursuit.
In a brief statement, the Pentagon confirmed Kelley previously served as an airman “at one point”.
Later, an Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek detailed how he was court-martialed in 2012 for an assault on his wife and child. He received a bad conduct discharge, 12 months’ confinement and a reduction in rank. He was discharged in 2014.
No information about any perceived motive has been released this early in the investigation. A number of law enforcement personnel were seen at his listed address in a wooded area on the rural, western outskirts of New Braunfels, north of San Antonio last night.
His neighbours in that area – which is around 35 miles from the Sutherland Springs church – have said that they heard intense gunfire from that direction in recent days.
Victims
Authorities were also slow to begin identifying victims, but in such a small community, names were being released locally almost immediately.
Among the first named was the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor Frank Pomeroy. He described Annabelle Renee as a “very beautiful, special child”. He was not in the church at the time as he had been driving back from the nearby state of Oklahoma.
About 100 of the tiny population gathered around the church last night for a prayer vigil, lighting candles and shedding tears for their family members, friends and neighbours.
“We’re coming together to pray for them and show the world that now, in the midst of darkness, there is light,” said local man Mike Gonzales.
“The people of this church are wonderful people,” he added.
“This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of worship. Our hearts are broken,” US President Donald Trump said while on a visit to Japan in the aftermath of the shooting.
“We pull together, we join arms … through the tears and the sadness we stand strong.”
Later, Trump distanced the incident from America’s gun laws.
“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, but this isn’t a gun situation,” he said.
Speaking at last night’s press conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott thanked the president for his support.
He also made an emotional plea for Texans to show love to their family members at this tragic time.
“We are dealing with the largest mass shooting in our state’s history,” he confirmed, warning the figure of 26 could climb higher.
There’s so many families who have lost family members. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.
“The tragedy, of course, is worsened by the fact that it occurred in a church, a place of worship, where these people were innocently gunned down. We mourn their loss, but we support their family members.”
With reporting by AFP and Associated Press
There is rapid testing on arrival in many European countries, I wonder why it’s not available here? There must be a political reason why the government isn’t even talking about its adoption. Any ideas?
@Giovanni Giusti: lack of willingness to spend the money. Lack of sufficient tests levels as it is. Lack of imagination when it comes to other testing methods.
@Aidan O’ Neill: Our public health experts don’t like antigen testing according to the Taoiseach
It will take time? Why is that? Why does everything have to take an eternity and why should we be dependent on the U.K. ‘s acceptance ? I couldn’t care less what the U.K. do or not.
@Isabel Oliveira: you should Isabel. They generate massive income into this country through trade, tourism and diaspora travel. You don’t have to like but you need to understand the economics.
@Gary Sheahan: the uk will shortly be outside the EU, we will not. We need to adopt this system regardless of their stance. Our hospitality sector depends significantly on US visitors as well. They won’t be party to any EU system, so why should the UK be treated any different. Ryan needs to get the finger out and align us to EU system ASAP.
@Hugh Corcoran: The UK left the EU in January.
@Hugh Corcoran: our open border with the UK could force countries to treat us as one block so we would be on the red list everywhere!
@Isabel Oliveira: could it be that if the UK remain outside the system yet we still want to facilitate travel there, the Irish rating would not be allowable under EU system as UK travel should affect our rating due to UK potential rating?
It changes so often I wouldn’t be booking anything
Get it done NOW – time is not on our side – ACTION
They can still implement the first half (i.e. using the criteria for red and amber countries) from next week onwards while waiting to get testing in place.
@Dr Pablo Rojas Coppari: they won’t do that for one simple reason. The UK would be admitted. Other politics in place that are bordering on xenophobic
The bicycle man won’t accept it, he just doesn’t want people flying or traveling by car.
You know what would rid us of this virus? If every single one of us took some personal responsibility and just limited their contacts to 3 or 4 people outside of their own household for 4 weeks. It would be almost gone or at least down to extremely low levels of infection. Business and livelihoods would be saved, but oh no, people are far to fhckin selfish for that to happen.
I like the idea of rapid testing but of course what false positives would come through…which could block business or personal travel plans and no refunds would be available. I am glad I am not the one having to make these decisions!
@Seeking Truth: fast testing means a lot fewer cycles, so false positives are less likely. It’s irrelevant for us anyway as this government seems determined to keep us locked up and locked in
Airlines need to put in place a refund package for those who might test positive a few hours before their flights. If the don’t government must force them to by law.
@M Bowe: isn’t that what travel insurance is for?
@Kieran Frost: not covered under current policies
What’s the point in having orange?
@Bramer: it gives you an indication that countries may turn red. Which has implications for medium-term travel planning.
My job still wants me to take two weeks off to isolate if I go abroad. So none of these means anything.
If we are going to have another lockdown it should be done across europe at the same time. Then travel within Europe should be allowed. It could break the circuit on the continent also and maybe save the aviation industry
have your say