Man, 71, held inside Alabama house of God shooting that killed 2

Man, 71, held inside Alabama house of God shooting that killed 2

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) — A 71-year-old male fatally report set of two elderly people with every one other accompanied by wounded a third accompanied by a handgun throughout a potluck dinner at an Alabama house of God where he occasionally attended services, police said Friday.

The have a suspicion was subdued with every one other accompanied by held by an attendee of the event until police arrived Thursday evening, sparing the congregation from further violence at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church inside the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, police Capt. Shane Ware said.

"It was extremely critical inside lessening lives," Ware told a report conference. "The human being that subdued the suspect, inside my opinion, was a hero."

Ware did not present with a motive for the shootings. He too didn't identify the suspect, whom police took into custody at the church. He said the man's name was actuality withheld until prosecutors formally ask in remittance the male accompanied by first city murder.

Walter Rainey, 84, of nearby Irondale was killed at the house of God with every one other accompanied by Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham died following actuality taken to a hospital. The third victim, an 84-year-old woman, remained hospitalized, Ware said.

He said the have a suspicion with every one other accompanied by the trio victims were all white.

The event was a "Boomers Potluck" gathering inside the church, according to messages posted on the church's Facebook page by pastor the Rev. John Burruss. He said he was inside Greece on a pilgrimage accompanied by a category of members with every one other accompanied by trying to obtain spine to Alabama.

Police are still trying to determine the shooter's motive, Ware said. He said the have a suspicion had formerly attended services at the church.

Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry praised the police response, saying officers "handled this crisis inside an exemplary manner." He said his "close-knit, resilient, loving community" of 39,000 had been rocked by "this senseless take deed of violence."

The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the church's associate rector, led an online invocation work on the church's Facebook page Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims with every one other accompanied by house of God members who witnessed the shooting, nevertheless too "for the human being who perpetrated the shooting."

"We pray that you will labour inside that person's heart," Bridges said. "And we pray that you will assist us to forgive."

Bridges, who is currently inside London, alluded to other recent pile shootings while she prayed that elected officials inside Washington with every one other accompanied by Alabama "will see what has happened at St. Stephens with every one other accompanied by Uvalde with every one other accompanied by Buffalo with every one other accompanied by inside so numerous other places with every one other accompanied by their hearts will exist changed, minds will exist opened."

"And that our the arts will alter with every one other accompanied by that our laws will alter inside ways that will retain protected from danger all of us," she added.

There have been some high-profile shootings inside May with every one other accompanied by June, starting accompanied by a racist assault on May 14 that killed 10 Black people at a supermarket inside Buffalo, New York. The following week, a gunman massacred 19 children with every one other accompanied by set of two adults at an basic educational organization inside Uvalde, Texas.

Thursday's shooting happened fair over a month following one human being was killed with every one other accompanied by five injured when a male opened blaze on Taiwanese parishioners at a house of God inside Southern California. It comes almost septet years to the day following an avowed white supremacist killed nine people throughout Bible learning at Emanuel AME Church inside Charleston, South Carolina.

Agents accompanied by the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service with every one other accompanied by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco with every one other accompanied by Explosives joined investigators at the scene, which remained cordoned off Friday accompanied by yellow police band while police vehicles accompanied by flashing lights blocked the way to the church.

On Saturday, thousands of people rallied inside the U.S. with every one other accompanied by at the National Mall inside Washington, D.C., to renew calls for stricter firearm jurisdiction measures. Survivors of pile shootings with every one other accompanied by other incidents of firearm violence lobbied legislators with every one other accompanied by testified on Capitol Hill earlier this month.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement late Thursday lamenting what she called the shocking with every one other accompanied by tragic mislaying of life. Although she said she was pleased to hear the have a suspicion was inside custody, she wrote: "This should never occur — inside a church, inside a store, inside the city or anywhere."

Vestavia Hills is a residential population fair southeast of Birmingham, one of Alabama's set of two most populous cities.

Man, 71, held inside Alabama house of God shooting that killed 2