Texas shooting: Sutherland Springs locals shaken and puzzled
Michael Knigge
November 7, 2017
A day after the worst mass shooting in the state's history, locals are trying to make sense of what happened. Many find they have more questions than answers, reports DW's Michael Knigge from Sutherland Springs.
John Riley is 80 years old and has spent almost all of them in Sutherland Springs, Texas. As he drives his pickup truck just a few blocks away from the First Baptist Church, the scene of Sunday's shooting, he says he still can't get his head around the fact that a tragedy of this magnitude could ever happen in such a small, rural community.
"It's unreal. It is unbelievable," he said. The whole community, located some 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside of San Antonio, is still grappling with what happened.
Riley had once belonged to the church, although he hadn't been there in decades. He still lives just down the street, which has now been cordoned off by police.
Riley may be an outlier in this small community where gun ownership is common. Although he owns a deer rifle and comes from a family of deer hunters, he believes that assault-type weapons should be banned in the US.
"No individual should own assault rifles," he said. While he does believe that other arms, such as deer rifles or shotguns, should be allowed, "all this assault mess, it needs to be taken away," he said.
'Everybody knows everybody'
Billy Morgan was visiting a close friend whose relative lost family members in the shooting. However, he's not convinced that taking people's guns away is the solution to the latest in a series of mass shootings in the US. "It's not the gun… I mean it is the gun, but it is really the person behind it," he said.
Still, Morgan admits that "everyone's pretty shook up." Why in a church? Why on a Sunday? "You don't think about things like this in a little town in the middle of nowhere," he said.
Asked about whether he thinks the current cycle of violence will continue or subside, Morgan said he could imagine more "chaos in the coming few months or years," but then, he hopes, things will calm down again — at least, in Sutherland Springs. "It's really quiet here. Everybody knows everybody."
Following Sunday's massacre in Sutherland Springs, resident Billy Morgan thinks there will be more "violent chaos over the coming few months or years" in the USImage: DW/M. Knigge
Michelle Timburt is rushing into one of the two convenience stores in Sutherland Springs to pick up some groceries before going back to feed her horses. She had tears in her eyes as she told how the owner of the home schooling organization where she had just started teaching was a member of First Baptist Church. The owner had homeschooled many of the children who were shot in the massacre, and even knew the alleged shooter.
"She was scared of him," Timburt said. "In fact, she broke up ties with family because she was scared of him. He never should have been able to get a hold of this particular type of gun.”
But Timburt also said that her boss had told her how many of the churchgoers have licenses to carry concealed weapons. They just didn't happen to be at church that day. "If they were," she said, "this would have been over far quicker."
Texas church shooting: What we know so far
A lone gunman opened fire inside a Baptist church in the US state of Texas killing at least 26 people, including the 14-year-old daughter of the church pastor. The shooter was found dead in his vehicle.
A gunman opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday as the congregation was attending a morning service. At least 26 people were killed and 20 others were wounded in the shooting. Texas governor Greg Abbott said it was the deadliest shooting in the state's history.
The shooting took place in the small Texas community of Sutherland Springs, located around 76 miles (122 kilometers) southwest of Austin. Between 400 and 700 people live in the rural community.
What happened?
The gunman first opened fire outside the church around 11:30 in the morning, killing two people outside. He continued to fire as he entered the church, walking down the center aisle and shooting on his way back out, according to Texas officials. The shooter then exchanged gunfire with a local resident and was chased in his car. The suspect crashed his vehicle and reportedly shot himself.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/D. Abate
Who are the victims?
Officials said 26 people died in the attack while another 20 were wounded. The shooting victims include neighbors and multiple family members, ranging in age from 5 to 72-years-old. The dead include the 14-year-old daughter of Pastor Frank Pomeroy, the church leader told ABC News. A pregnant woman and her in-laws were also reportedly among those killed.
Image: Imago/ZUMA Press/B. Owen
What do we know about the shooter?
Texas officials identified the shooter as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley. He received a bad conduct discharge from the US Air Force in 2014 for allegedly assaulting his wife and child, an Air Force spokeswoman said. The Kelley was dressed entirely in black, tactical-style gear and was wearing a ballistic vest when he fired on the church.
The gunman appeared to use an assault rifle during the attack, authorities said. Police are investigating one of the suspect's posts on social media that appeared to show an AR-15 style semi-automatic weapon. Authorities also uncovered two handguns from the suspect's crashed car.
Image: picture-alliance/E.Gay
A community in shock
Local residents held a candlelight vigil for the victims on Sunday night. Described as a tight-knit community with two gas stations, two churches and a post office, Sutherland Springs has been rocked by the shooting. Several people wounded in the shooting are still in the hospital , including three children and two adults.
