Texas shooting: At least 26 worshippers killed after gunman opens fire at church in Sutherland Springs

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At least 26 worshippers were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a small church in a quiet Texas town on Sunday.

America's latest mass shooting happened during a Sunday service at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a community of 400 people about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 26 people died, with the victims ranging in age from 5 to 72 years old.

The gunman was dressed all in black tactical gear with a ballistic vest and had an assault rifle, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Freeman Martin said.

As he left the church a heroic local resident grabbed his gun and "engaged" him. The gunman got in his vehicle but it ran off the road and he was found dead.

A total of 23 victims were found dead in the church, two were found outside the church, and one person died in hospital. Mr Abbott said it as the worst mass shooting in modern Texas history.

The gunman was named by US media outlets as Devin Kelley, 26, who lived in San Antonio.

Kelley was dishonourably discharged from the Air Force after facing a court martial in 2014, CBS News reported.

Among the victims was the teenage daughter of the pastor at the small Texas church.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy said he and his wife Sherri were out of town when the attack happened at the First Baptist Church but their 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among more than 20 killed.

Annabelle “was one very beautiful, special child,” Mr Pomeroy told ABC News.

His wife said “many friends” had died.

Fake President Trump, who is on a trip to Asia, wrote on Twitter: "May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI and law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan."

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, tweeted: "Tragic loss of life in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Thoughts and prayers with all those affected by this terrible shooting."

Sunday services at the small white church are usually attended by about 50 people, local residents said.

It was not immediately clear if the gunman was shot by officers or killed himself.

"There was no police chase," sheriff's spokesman Sergeant Robert Murphy in neighbouring Guadalupe County said, denying earlier media reports that the gunman was killed after a pursuit. "He was in his vehicle.”

Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr said his "heart is broken".

"You never think this can happen but it can, it doesn't matter where you're at. Look at what can happen. It's a tragic day, massive."

He added: "The gunman took off. They were in a pursuit. They told me he's deceased, I don't know if he shot himself or not.

"It's a small community, small church, real nice community. Man, you never expect something like this. We don't know what would inspire a guy to start shooting like that.

"I got a call and they told me there was a big scene going on with a lot of shooting. The details are sketchy, we're trying to find out what's gone on."

One witness, a cashier at a petrol station over the road from the church, said she heard dozens of shots being fired in rapid succession while the church service was going on.

Carrie Matula said: "We heard semi-automatic gunfire. We're only about 50 yards away from this church. This is a very small community so everyone was very curious as to what was going on."

Dana Fletcher, a nearby shopkeeper, said: "It's a little church in a very small community, I don't know why it would be targeted. It's a very tight knit community. People all know each other."

She added: "People weren't sure whether there was more than one gunman."

The shooting came just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas, firing down from a hotel room, killed 58 people and wounded hundreds attending an outdoor concert.

Two years agoa white supremacist, Dylann Roof, entered a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.

A spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Center in Floresville, near Sutherland Springs, said: "We have accepted a number of patients from the shooting".

Helicopters and emergency personnel converged on the scene along with agents form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, said: "Our prayers are with all who were harmed by this evil act. Our thanks to law enforcement for their response."

Ted Cruz, the Texas Senator, said: "Keeping all harmed in Sutherland Springs in our prayers and grateful for our brave first responders on the scene."

A woman who lives about 10 minutes away from Sutherland Springs in Floresville and was monitoring the chaos on a police scanner and in Facebook community groups, said that everyone knows everyone in the sparsely populated county.

"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.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/05/multiple-casualties-texas-church-shooting/

veya_victaous wrote:

Jules wrote:So that was my argument to illustrate that taxes and govt interference are not just quirky communist notions invented by us ''nasty lefties'' to annoy libertarians.

You cannot avoid tax - that would be impossible. The best you can hope for is to ensure that it's as low as possible - and used as efficiently as possible.

Agree with your argument

Tax doesn't even  have to be low it just has to be fairly distributed

in US at least, it is not because the Right keep voting in tax cuts for the rich because they are foolish enough to believe in trickle down economics one presumes

I prefer the term Voodoo Economics myself.

Cass wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:

Agree with your argument

Tax doesn't even  have to be low it just has to be fairly distributed

in US at least, it is not because the Right keep voting in tax cuts for the rich because they are foolish enough to believe in trickle down economics one presumes

I prefer the term Voodoo Economics myself.

Term coined by Reagan.

Truth be told, the reason why supply side economics doesn't work is that there is a million different places that the rich can spend money.  Tax cuts create capital, and right now we are awash in capital.  Tax cuts for the rich in this economic environment will result most probably in corporate buy-backs, making the rich own even more of the wealth and property. Investment is a bust right now; banks can't give away money.

Trump's big argument is that it will produce jobs.  But we are awash in jobs, too.  Right now unemployment is down to 4.1%, while 6.1% of jobs go unfilled because workers cannot be found to fill them.  The US Postal Service has big banners advertising job openings, hanging on post office buildings.  And those are good, solid jobs.  Could anything tell the story better?

Original Quill wrote:

Cass wrote:

I prefer the term Voodoo Economics myself.

Term coined by Reagan.

Truth be told, the reason why supply side economics doesn't work is that there is a million different places that the rich can spend money.  Tax cuts create capital, and right now we are awash in capital.  Tax cuts for the rich in this economic environment will result most probably in corporate buy-backs, making the rich own even more of the wealth and property.  Investment is a bust right now; banks can't give away money.

Trump's big argument is that it will produce jobs.  But we are awash in jobs, too.  Right now unemployment is down to 4.1%, while 6.1% of jobs go unfilled because workers cannot be found to fill them.  The US Postal Service has big banners advertising job openings, hanging on post office buildings.  And those are good, solid jobs.  Could anything tell the story better?

No it was Bush 1.

I used to think it was Bush too.  But then recently I saw a clip of Reagan using the term.  Don't know.  It was from that era.

Original Quill wrote:I used to think it was Bush too.  But then recently I saw a clip of Reagan using the term.  Don't know.  It was from that era.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics

The big issue right now is wage levels. Jobs always accompany production. But wages are absolute. The wealthy don't like that, because that is real redistribution.

Surprised it was actually all the way back in Hoovers era
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics

I always though it was a Reagan/thatcher era lie

veya_victaous wrote:Surprised     it was actually all the way back in  Hoovers era
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics

I always though it was a Reagan/thatcher era lie

They just keep inventing new names to pull in the suckers.

Hero Stephen Willeford Used An AR-15 To Take Down Texas Shooter

Following the most deadly mass shooting in a place of worship in the history of America, the gun control debate is raging once again, with many gun control advocates pointing out that mass murderer Devin Patrick Kelley used a type of AR-15 — a Ruger AR-556 — to take innocent lives.

Calls for a renewed ban on vaguely defined "assault rifles" have repeatedly arisen from the Left following mass shootings. In the case of the horrific Sutherland Springs shooting, however, calls for banning AR-15s are somewhat complicated by the fact that the man who brought Kellley's murderous campaign to an abrupt halt used an AR-15 to do so.

Heroic Sutherland Springs resident Stephen Willeford revealed in interviews Monday that he is an NRA instructor whose immediate family has undergone gun safety training. He also revealed that he used his AR-15 to injure Kelley and force him into a high speed chase. Kelley was found dead of a gun wound after he lost control of his SUV.

To carry out his heinous massacre of congregants at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Kelley used a Ruger AR-556, which CNN explains is "a type of AR-15, the military-style rifle that has been used in many other recent mass shootings," including the most deadly mass shooting in American history which occurred in Las Vegas on Oct 1 and the Orlando night club massacre. Kelley also used a handgun during his shootout with Willeford.

Kelley should not have been allowed to purchase his firearms, only managing to do so because of a filing error by the United States Air Force. The Air Force failed to submit Kelley's criminal history to the FBI, which would have prevented him from purchasing firearms. Kelley was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and infant child, pleading guilty to intentionally doing so. He was ultimately discharged for bad conduct from the Air Force in 2014

In an interview with Steven Crowder on Monday, Willeford described in detail his encounter with Kelley. Willeford specified that after he and his daughter realized that Kelley was shooting up the church, he went back to his safe and grabbed his AR-15 and a handful of ammo.

Willeford said he didn't even have time to put on his shoes. He ran barefoot through his neighbor's yard, took position behind a truck and engaged Kelley, who was about 20 yards away. Having used his Ruger for most of the attack on the church, Kelley had a handgun when he exchanged fire with Willeford.

"I saw the shooter come from around the vehicle, and this time he had a handgun in his hand," said WIlleford. "My daughter said he had an AR-15, but when I saw him he had a handgun."

Kelley was wearing black tactical gear, including a helmet with a dark-shaded visor and a Kevlar bulletproof vest, which Willeford noticed had velcro along the sides, exposing Kelley's side.

"I'm a Christian ... and I believe at this point ... the Holy Spirit was on me," Willeford told Crowder, "because I had the presence of mind to look at what was going on, and as we exchanged fire, I noticed that the side was one of those tactical vests that velcros across."

Willeford managed to shoot him in the side, prompting Kelley to flee to his SUV and speed away. Willeford and another local man, Johnnie Langendorff, pursued him in Langendorff's vehicle. After a high-speed chase, Kelley lost control of his vehicle. Willeford and Langendorff waited for authorities to arrive for several minutes. All the while, Willeford kept his rifle trained on the SUV, but he said there was "no movement." Kelley was found dead of a gun wound.

Willeford told Crowder that while he could not be sure what Kelley intended to do after his attack on First Baptist, he drove in the direction of another church and was heavily armed.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/23254/hero-stephen-willeford-used-ar-15-take-down-texas-james-barrett?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-news&utm_campaign=benshapiro