Authorities say a shooter opened fire inside a suburban Alabama church, killing two people and wounded a third during a small group meeting before being apprehended Thursday.
According to Police Capt. Shane Ware of the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, the attack took place at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church. At roughly 6:20 p.m., he said, emergency dispatchers received a call reporting an active shooter at the church.
Ware said at a press conference late Thursday that a suspect had been apprehended and that the injured victim was being treated at a hospital. Police declined to name the culprit or victims, or release any other information about the attack, and indicated a press conference would be held on Friday.
Ware had previously stated at a press conference that one person had been killed and 2 others had been injured.
A “Boomers Potluck” was advertised on the church’s website for Thursday night. The poster stated, “There will be no program; simply eat and have time for fellowship.”
The shooting happened a little over a month after a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners at a church in Southern California, killing one person and injuring five more. It also comes nearly seven years to the day after nine people were killed at a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, by an avowed white supremacist.
Investigators stayed at the Vestavia Hills scene far into the night, with yellow police tape encircling the church complex and emergency police and fire trucks with flashing lights blocking the road to the church. Agents from the FBI, the US Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives were rushed to the scene.
People huddled and prayed nearby.
The Rev. Kelley Hudlow, an Episcopal priest in Alabama’s Diocese, told WBRC that the shooting shook both the church and the community.
“It’s mind-boggling. In a live interview with the station, she stated, “Saint Stephen’s is a community founded on love, prayers, and grace and they are going to come together.” “People of different religions have gathered to worship and hope for healing”.
She stated she was receiving messages of support from all around the United States and the world. “Everyone needs to be out there.” “Pray, contemplate, meditate, and send love to this community because we will need everything,” she advised.
In May and June, there were many high-profile shootings, beginning with a racist attack on a store in Buffalo, New York on May 14 that killed ten Black people. The following week, a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults.
Thousands of people rallied in the United States on Saturday, including on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to advocate for tighter gun control laws. Survivors of mass shootings and other forms of gun violence testified and lobbied senators on Capitol Hill earlier this month.
Late Thursday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement grieving the “shocking and devastating loss of life” at the church. “This should never happen – in a church, at a store, in the city, or anyplace,” she said, adding that she was delighted the offender was under arrest.
Vestavia Hills is a residential neighborhood located just southeast of Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city.
