Update – 9.55am: Wilson County Sheriff Joe D Tackitt Jr, whose territory includes Sutherland Springs, said there was probably “no way” for the church congregation to escape once the shooting started.
“He just walked down the centre aisle, turned around and my understanding was shooting on his way back out,” said Mr Tackitt.
He said the gunman also carried a handgun but that he did not know if it was fired.
The sheriff described the scene as “terrible” and said: “It’s unbelievable to see children, men and women, laying there. Defenceless people.”
The victims included multiple family members and tight-knit neighbours ranging in age from five to 72 years old.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses Texas shooting from Japan. Via: @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/J6UFDC0wtj
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 6, 2017
Update – 8.25am: Donald Trump has said the mass shooting at a Texas church “isn’t a guns situation”
Donald Trump has said the mass shooting at a Texas church “isn’t a guns situation,” but is a “mental health problem at the highest level”.
The president spoke after a man killed 26 people and wounded at least 16 others in what the governor called the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.
Devin Kelley, the man authorities have identified as the gunman, was discharged from the Air Force several years ago for allegedly assaulting his spouse and a child.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said that Kelley served 12 months’ confinement after a 2012 court-martial. He ultimately received a bad conduct discharge and reduction in rank.
She said Kelley served in Logistics Readiness at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge in 2014. He was responsible for moving passengers, cargo and personal property in military transportation.
As Kelley left the scene, authorities said he was confronted by an armed resident who engaged the suspect, who later was found dead in his vehicle.
While no officials have publicly questioned Kelley’s mental health, Mr Trump said that “is your problem here” when asked about the shooting as he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a joint news conference in Tokyo.
“This was a very, based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of time,” Mr Trump said.
“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn’t a guns situation,” the president said.
Mr Trump first tweeted that he was monitoring the situation from Japan.
He later described the shooting as an “act of evil” during remarks to a gathering of American and Japanese business executives.
Mr Trump said “fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction otherwise it (wouldn’t) have been as bad as it was, it would have been much worse.”
“But this is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very, very sad event.”
Earlier: A man opened fire inside a church in a small South Texas community yesterday, killing 26 people
A man opened fire inside a church in a small South Texas community yesterday, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 others in what the governor called the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.
Officials did not identify the attacker during a news conference last night, but two other officials – one a US official and one in law enforcement – who were briefed on the investigation identified him as Devin Kelley.
The US official said Kelley lived in a San Antonio suburb and does not appear to be linked to organised terrorist groups. The official said investigators are looking at social media posts Kelley may have made in the days before yesterday’s attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon.
At the news conference, Freeman Martin, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the attacker was dressed all in black, wearing tactical gear and a ballistic vest, when he arrived at a gas station across from the First Baptist Church at around 11.20am local time.
He crossed the street and started firing a Ruger AR rifle at the church, and continued after entering the building. As he left, he was confronted by an armed resident who chased him. A short time later, the suspect was found dead in his vehicle at the county line, Mr Martin said.
The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. There were several weapons inside the vehicle.
Mr Martin said investigators were not ready to discuss a possible motive for the attack. He said the dead ranged in age from five to 72 years old. Twenty-three were found dead in the church, two were found outside and one died after being taken to a hospital.
Federal law enforcement swarmed the small community 30 miles south-east of San Antonio after the attack to offer assistance, including ATF investigators and members of the FBI’s evidence collection team.
Among those killed was the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, and his wife, Sherri. Sherri Pomeroy wrote in a text message to the AP that she and her husband were out of town in two different states when the attack occurred.
“We lost our 14 year old daughter today and many friends,” she wrote. “Neither of us have made it back into town yet to personally see the devastation. I am at the charlotte airport trying to get home as soon as i can.”
The wounded were taken to hospitals. Video on KSAT television showed first responders taking a stretcher from the church to a waiting AirLife helicopter. Eight victims were taken by medical helicopter to the Brooke Army Medical Center, the military hospital said.
Megan Posey, a spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Centre, which is in Floresville and about 10 miles from the church, said “multiple” victims were being treated for gunshot wounds.
Alena Berlanga, a Floresville resident who was monitoring the chaos on a police scanner and in Facebook community groups, said everyone knows everyone else in the sparsely populated county. Sutherland Springs has only a few hundred residents.
“This is horrific for our tiny little tight-knit town,” said Alena Berlanga. “Everybody’s going to be affected and everybody knows someone who’s affected,” she said.
May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017
President Donald Trump tweeted from Japan, where is his on an Asian trip, that he was monitoring the situation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting an “evil act.”
AP
