3:06
- ABC News
- November 6, 2017
At least 26 dead in Texas church shooting
The shooting took place at a church 40 miles southeast of San Antonio.
3:06
Paul Buford, a pastor at another church in Sutherland Springs, told KSAT his congregation was in the middle of their service at River Oaks Church when they started getting calls about the shooting.
Members of his church who are first responders rushed out while the rest of the congregation immediately started praying.
Pastor of nearby church in Sutherland Springs says first responders at his church went to First Baptist as soon as they heard about shooting pic.twitter.com/cHnDsK0iPc
— ABC News (@ABC) November 5, 2017
The shooter was identified as Devin Kelley, 26, of New Braunfels, Texas, which is about 35 miles from Sutherland Springs, federal and state law enforcement sources told ABC News.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/texas-church-shooting-suspect-03-fb-ht-jc-171105_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The investigation into his background is unfolding. The suspect’s Facebook profile appeared to show a picture of an AR-15–style gun. The U.S. Air Force confirmed Kelley served from 2010 until his discharge, which the Department of Defense's service verification website reports was in 2014. Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said records confirmed Kelley served in the logistics readiness department at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
President Donald Trump, who is in Japan, began his remarks to business leaders in Tokyo by addressing the shooting as \"an act of evil\" in a \"place of sacred worship.\"
\"Together we join hands we lock arms and through the tears and through the sadness we stand strong,\" Trump said.
He tweeted earlier, \"May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas.\"
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
Trump has been briefed “several times” and is continuing to receive regular updates, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
\"This will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain,\" Abbott said at this afternoon’s news conference. “We ask for God's comfort, for God's guidance and for God's healing for all those who are suffering.
\"As governor I ask for every mom and dad at home tonight, that you put your arm around your kid and give your kid a big hug and let them know how much you love them knowing that we support each other.”
Abbott said earlier in a statement, \"Cecilia and I want to send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by this evil act. I want to thank law enforcement for their response and ask that all Texans pray for the Sutherland Springs community during this time of mourning and loss.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/texas-church-shooting-10-ap-jc-171105_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement, \"The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with the people of Sutherland Springs as tragic reports come out of First Baptist Church.\"
\"Please join Angela and me as we pray for those impacted by this horrific shooting,” Paxton said.
The massacre in Texas is at least the third deadly shooting at a U.S. church in the past three years.
In June 2015, white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed nine black churchgoers during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof was sentenced to death this January.
In September 2017, a gunman allegedly stormed the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, fatally shooting a woman in the parking lot before entering the church sanctuary, shooting and wounding six people.
ABC News' Jack Date, Pierre Thomas, Mike Levine, Aaron Katersky, Meghan Keneally, Michael DelMoro, Katherine Faulders and Joi-Marie McKenzie contributed to this report.
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