Texas church shooting live updates: At least 26 killed, Pentagon says shooter served in Air Force

Texas Governor Greg Abbott embraces a woman at a vigil following a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, U.S. November 5, 2017. (Reuters)

At least 26 people were killed and 20 other wounded after an armed assailant opened fire at a Baptist church in the US state of Texas on Sunday. The incident took place at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small community about 50 kilometers southeast of San Antonio.

The gunman reportedly walked into the church shortly before noon — at a morning service that witnesses said was normally attended by around 50 people — and opened fire. According to officials a civilian with a gun confronted the attacker and chased him away. The shooter was later found dead in his car along with several weapons. While there in no official word on who the shooter was, two officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press identified him as Devid Kelly.

US President Doinald Trump called the shooting an “an act of evil” and denounced the violence in “a place of sacred worship” and pledged the full support of the federal government. He said that in a time of grief, “Americans will do what we do best: we pull together and join hands and lock arms and through the tears and sadness we stand strong.”

Read | Major terrorist attacks in US history

Texas shooting Live updates:

8.54 am: Condeming the attack, former US President Barack Obama said,  “We grieve with all the families in Sutherland Springs harmed by this act of hatred. We’ll stand with the survivors as they recover. May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst.”

8.45 am: An Air Force official says the suspect was was court-martialed in 2012 on one count of assault on his spouse and another count of assault on their child. He was discharged two years later, reports AP.

8.42 am: The wife of the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs says the couple’s 14-year-old daughter was among those killed in a mass shooting at the church.

8.30 am: In a statement, Tom Vinger of the Texas Department of Public Safety said, “The shooter was later found deceased in his vehicle in Guadalupe County. The exact circumstances of the gunman’s death are still under investigation. The wounded individuals were transported to San Antonio Medical Center and University Hospital in San Antonio.”

8.09 am: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also offered his condolences, saying on Twitter: “I offer my deepest condolences for those who lost their lives in the incident that occurred in the U.S. state of Texas.” He added: “My thoughts are with those who suffered injuries in the incident.”

7.50 am: The official said investigators are also looking at the posts made by the suspect on social media, including one that appeared to show an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon, reported AP.

7:40 am:

In Japan, Donald Trump speaks about the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas pic.twitter.com/cVq0XpJoP8

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 6, 2017

7.39 am: People who live near the residence of the shooting suspect say that they heard intense gunfire from that direction in recent days. Sixteen-year-old Ryan Albers lives across the road from the alleged gunman said, “It’s really loud. At first I thought someone was blasting. It was someone using automatic weapon fire.”

7.25 am: Texas Governor Greg Abbott calls the attack as the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott addresses members of the media about the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, during a press conference in Stockdale, Texas. (AP)

7.20 am: A US military official says the suspect identified in the mass shooting at a Texas church was a former Air Force member who was stationed in New Mexico at one time.

7.00 am: The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas, firing down from a hotel room, killed 58 people and wounded hundreds attending an outdoor concert. And it came just over two years after a white supremacist, Dylann Roof, entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.

(With inputs from agencies)