26 killed in shooting Texas church

A lone shooter with a ballistic vest strapped to his chest and a military-style rifle in his hands opened fire on worshippers at a Sunday service at a church in US state of Texas, killing at least 26 people and injuring 20 others in the latest mass shooting to shock the country.

The suspect wearing all black started firing at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs just after the Sunday morning service began, officials said. He was armed with a Ruger military-style rifle.

Authorities confirmed that the church shooter was heavily armed white male, in his 20's, but refused to name him.
 

The gunman was identified as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, by the media.

In a press conference, Freeman Martin, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said, "The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle and fled from the church."

Authorities said a civilian with a gun confronted the attacker and chased him away. The gunman was later found dead in his vehicle with a cache of weapons.

"The exact circumstances of the gunman's death are still under investigation. The wounded individuals were transported to San Antonio Medical Centre and University Hospital in San Antonio," the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement said.

The San Antonio FBI branch said there was no indication of the gunman's motive.

The victims ranged in age from 5 to 72, and among the dead were several children, a pregnant woman and the pastors 14-year-old daughter. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the states history.

In a brief statement, the Pentagon said the suspect was an airman "at one point," but additional details about his time in the Air Force were not immediately available.

The US officials said the suspect lived in a San Antonio suburb and doesn't appear to be linked to organised terrorist groups. The officials said investigators are looking at social media posts Kelley may have made in the days before Sunday's attack, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon.

Kelley was previously a member of the US Air Force and served at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek. The Air Force did not provide a date or condition of the discharge.

President Donald Trump, who was in Japan on the first leg of a 12-day Asia tour, expressed condolences to the victims of the mass shooting and also called Governor Gerg Abbott.

He condemned the "act of evil" and said Americans would pull together.

"And through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong, oh so strong," he said,

"In dark times, and these are dark times, such as these, Americans do what they do best and pull together," Trump said.

The shooting has devastated the small Texas town east of San Antonio, described as a place where "everybody knows everybody" and sent shockwaves across the US, as the nation confronts a breaking point over race and gun violence.

Less than a thousand people live in Sutherland Springs and officials believe that the number of people who are injured and killed make up about ten per cent of the entire population.

"While the details of this horrific act are still under investigation,...I want to send our sincerest thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by this evil act," Governor Abbott said during conference.

Former President Barack Obama expressed his condolences over the incident and said, "We grieve with all the families in Sutherland Springs harmed by this act of hatred, and we'll stand with the survivors as they recover."

"May Gold also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst," he said.

It's the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history -- and the fifth deadliest in modern US history.

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.

On June 12, 2016, a heavily-armed gunman opened shooting inside a nightclub in Orlando. 49 people were killed in the shooting with the attacker pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group, which later claimed its responsibility.

In December 2015, a radicalised Muslim couple stormed a Christmas office party in San Bernardino and gunned down 14 people, while wounding 22 others.

Texas witnessed its worst shooting in 1991 when a man drove his pickup truck into a Cafeteria and opened fire, killing 23 people and injuring 27 others.