Police: 3rd victim inside Alabama house of God shooting dies

Police: 3rd victim inside Alabama house of God shooting dies

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) — A third elderly house of God subscriber who was report when a male pulled not here a handgun throughout a potluck dinner has died, police said Friday.

The 84-year-old woman died hours following actuality rushed to a medical organization following the Thursday evening shooting at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church inside the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills. The suspect, a 71-year-old man, was subdued with every one other accompanied by held by a human being attending the dinner until police arrived, sparing the congregation from further violence, 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 said the have a suspicion with every one other accompanied by the trio victims were all white.

The woman who died Friday was not straight away identified. Vestavia Hills police said inside a Facebook pole that her name was actuality withheld since her family requested privacy.

Walter Bartlett Rainey, 84, of nearby Irondale was killed at the house of God with every one other accompanied by Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham died in a short time following actuality taken to a medical organization Thursday.

Rainey's family said inside a statement Friday that it was firm to exist convinced by he had been killed at one of his favorite places, a house of God that "welcomes everyone accompanied by love," while attending a dinner accompanied by his spouse of 61 years.

"We are all thankful that she was spared with every one other accompanied by that he died inside her arms while she murmured words of ease with every one other accompanied by deep affection into his ears," said the statement provided by Rainey's daughter, Melinda Rainey Thompson.

"We are pleased that inside his last take deed on earth, he extended the hand of population with every one other accompanied by fellowship to a stranger, anyway of the outcome," Rainey's family said.

Police are still investigating what motivated the suspect, who occasionally attended services at the church, Ware said. He said the man's name is actuality withheld until prosecutors formally ask in remittance him accompanied by first city murder.

The event was a "Boomers Potluck" gathering inside the church, according to messages posted on the church's Facebook page by the Rev. John Burruss, the pastor. 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.

Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry told reporters his "close-knit, resilient, loving community" had been rocked by "this senseless take deed of violence." The bedroom population is one of the wealthiest cities inside Alabama, place of residence to numerous businesspeople, doctors with every one other accompanied by lawyers who labour inside nearby Birmingham. Vestavia Hills is known for top-flight schools with every one other accompanied by a family-centered, suburban lifestyle. It has almost 40,000 residents, most of whom are white.

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."

Police: 3rd victim inside Alabama house of God shooting dies