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27 Dead in Texas Church Shooting

[additional-authors]
November 5, 2017
The area around a site of a mass shooting is taped out in Sutherland Springs, Texas, U.S., November 5, 2017, in this picture obtained via social media. MAX MASSEY/ KSAT 12/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

As many as 27 people are dead and 24 others injured in a shooting that occurred Sunday morning in a Texas church. It is the deadliest church shooting in modern U.S. history.

The gunman, identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs at 11:30 am local time and fired around 20 shots. The gunman fled the scene and was chased by a local resident into Guadalupe County. It is not known if he killed himself or was killed by the resident.

One of the victims include Annabelle Pomeroy, the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy. Pomeroy told ABC that his daughter “was one very beautiful, special child.”

Multiple others are being treated in nearby hospitals, including three children who are in critical condition.

“My heart is broken,” Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. told CNN. “We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this, what can happen.”

Sutherland Springs is a small town of less than 400 people that is about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. Alena Berlanga, who lives close to Sutherland Springs, told the Associated Press that the shooting was “horrific for our tiny little tight-knit town.”

“Everybody’s going to be affected and everybody knows someone who’s affected,” said Berlanga.

President Trump gave his condolences on Twitter:

The Texas senators also issued tweets responding to the situation:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in a statement, “While the details of this horrific act are still under investigation, 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.”

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