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As part of the ongoing killing spree, a lone suspect opened fire on a group of people at a neighborhood church in one of the major cities of Alabama on Thursday evening. As per Alabama officials, the accused was taken into custody after fatally killing two people and badly injuring the third victim.
Police Capt. Shane Ware said the attack happened at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in the Vestavia Hills of Birmingham, Alabama. Officers hurried to the church after dispatchers received a call at 6:22 p.m. reporting an active shooter.
Captain Ware said in a statement,
“From what we have gathered from the circumstances of this evening, an assailant entered a small church group meeting and began shooting. Three people were shot. Two people are deceased. One person is being treated for an unknown injury at a local hospital.”
He went on to say that the suspect had been apprehended and that "at this time, there is no threat to the community."
Police authorities have refused to name the professed shooter or identify the victim. Captain Ware said his next briefing would be on Friday.
A detailed look into the Alabama shooting incident
Agents from the FBI, the US Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives responded to the scene.
Investigators remained on the scene well into the night, with yellow police tape encircling the church complex and emergency police and fire trucks with flashing lights blocking the entrance. People huddled and prayed in the vicinity.
Rev. Kelley Hudlow, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Alabama, described his experience and said,
“The church and community was stunned by the shooting. It is shocking! Saint Stephens is a community built on love, prayers, and grace and they are going to come together. People of all faiths are coming together to pray to hope for healing.”
She added,
“We need everybody out there. Pray, think, meditate, and send love to this community because we are going to need all of it.”
According to a calendar on the church's website, a "Boomers Potluck Dinner" was being held in the church at the time of the shooting. According to the organizers, it was intended to be a pleasant evening with no agenda.
An event for the advertisement said,
“There will be no program, simply eat and have time for fellowship.”
Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama issued a statement regretting the "tragic loss of life" at the church. Despite this, she expressed her delight that the officials had nabbed the offender.
It was the most recent in a series of violent shootings that have shaken the country. Following recent horrific mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, to Uvalde, Texas, thousands of people marched in the United States and at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to renew calls for tighter gun control legislation.
This month, survivors of mass shootings and other acts of gun violence lobbied senators and spoke on Capitol Hill.
