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A former firearms dealer, Robert Findlay Smith, 70, was charged on June 17 with the murder of three people. He reportedly shot at and killed three people in a Vestavia Hills, Alabama, church shooting.
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr announced that the 70-year-old registered gun dealer was charged with Capital Murder of two or more people. The victims have been identified as Jane Pounds, 84, Walter Rainey, 84, and Sarah Yeager, 75.
Rainey was found dead at the scene when officers arrived at the scene of the crime. Meanwhile, Yeager and Pounds were being treated for their injuries at a hospital, but later succumbed to them.
Reportedly, Smith had previously once crossed paths with federal authorities in 2018. Agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms only discovered 86 guns in his possession, contrary to there being 97 on his records, AL.com stated, citing a police report.
Smith, who did business as "Original Magazine 2," was warned in February 2018 after failing to record the sale or disposition of a firearm in seven days.
Robert Findlay Smith's motive for carrying out the Alabama church shooting was unknown
The shooting took place during a "Boomers" Potluck Dinner at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
Smith was reportedly sitting alone at the potluck dinner and claimed to be a former church member. But none of the current members knew him, said Reverend Doug Carpenter, the Alabama church's retired founder.
Carpenter told ABC News:
"My wife said he looked like he didn’t take very good care of himself."
He then stated that Smith had a hard time communicating with people:
"Why would a guy who’s been around for a while suddenly decide he would go to a supper and kill somebody? It doesn’t make sense."
Police described Smith as an "occasional attendee."
Once he shot the three victims, a member of the Alabama church, Jim Musgrove, attacked the 70-year-old with a folding chair and managed to take the gun out of his hands. The mugshot released by police shows Smith with a black eye and other wounds to his face.
Carpenter, describing Musgrove's heroic moment, said:
"He hit him with a folding chair, wrestled him to the ground, took the gun from him and hit him in the head with his own gun."
Vestavia Police Captain Shane Ware, although did not refer to Musgrove directly, called him a "hero" in his opinion during a press conference.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey stated the attack. She offered her "prayers for the victim's family, the injured, and the entire church community" after the "shocking and tragic loss of life."
She added:
"I am glad that the shooter is in custody. This should never happen—in a church, in a story, in the city or anywhere."
While investigations are underway, Smith's motive for carrying out the Alabama church attack remains unknown.
He is being held without bail in the Jefferson County jail.
