Texas Church Shooting Leaves At Least 26 Dead
At least 26 people have been killed after a gunman opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas during Sunday services.
It's unclear yet how many more people were injured, but victims range in age from 5 to 72 years old.
The gunman, who is reported to have been killed in the aftermath, entered the church and opened fire at around 11:30 local time (17:30 GMT).
The suspected shooter has been identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, according to two law enforcement sources who have been briefed on the investigation.
He died after a brief car chase into nearby Guadalupe County, slightly to the north, a Sherriff's Office deputy from area county told CNN. But it is not clear if he was killed by police or whether he killed himself.
CNN reports that according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek, Kelley was a member of the US Air Force and served at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge.
Sutherland Springs is a small rural community with just a few hundred residents, which lies about 30 miles (50km) southeast of the Texan city of San Antonio.
BBC reports that the San Antonio FBI branch said its agents had been deployed, and there was no indication of the gunman's motive.
The shooting comes just a month after a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.
By Thea Morrison
Photo source: CNN