26 killed in church attack in Texas

Team Udayavani, Nov 6, 2017, 10:22 AM IST

Sutherland Springs (USA): A gunman clad in full black dress, armed with rifle opened fire on Parishioners on a Sunday service at a Baptist church in rural Texas, killing 26 and wounding over 20.

The gunman has been identified as Devin Patrick Kelley (26). He died shortly after the attack. One of the eye witnesses told a new channel that he witnessed the deadly shooting and saw a resident pursue the gunman. “If it wasn’t for him, the guy wouldn’t have stopped,” he said.

“He went there, he walked in, started shooting people and then took off,” said Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas congressman who represents the region and who was briefed by law enforcement officials.

Kelley had served in the Air Force at a base in New Mexico, but was court-martialed in 2012 on charges of assaulting his wife and child. He was sentenced to 12 months’ confinement and received a “bad conduct” discharge in 2014, according to Ann Stefanek, the chief of Air Force media operations.

President Donald Trump, who is traveling in Asia, said “our hearts are broken.”

“This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of worship,” he said in Tokyo.

“We pull together, we join hands, we lock arms and through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong.”

The president promised his administration’s “full support” to the investigation.