At least 26 people killed in shooting at Texas church

(CNN)At least 26 people were killed in Sunday's church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference.

About 20 others were wounded, said Freeman Martin, a regional director with the Texas Department of Public Safety, with victims ranging in age from 5 to 72 years old.

Among the dead is the 14-year-old daughter of the First Baptist Church's pastor, Frank Pomeroy, according to his wife, Sherri Pomeroy, the girl's mother. The couple were traveling out of state when the shooting occurred.

Authorities have not said what may have motivated the suspected shooter, who was later found dead in his vehicle.

The shooting has devastated the small Texas town east of San Antonio, described as a place where "everybody knows everybody."

Here are the latest developments:

  • The suspected shooter has been identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, according to two law enforcement sources who have been briefed on the investigation.
  • In April 2016, Kelley purchased the Ruger AR-556 rifle he used in the shooting from an Academy Sports & Outdoors store in San Antonio, Texas, a law enforcement official said. He indicated he didn't have a disqualifying criminal history when he filled out the background check paperwork at the store, the official said. Kelley listed a Colorado Springs, Colorado, address when he bought the gun.
  • Kelley was a member of the US Air Force and served at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek.
  • Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 for assault on his spouse and assault on their child, according to Stefanek. Kelley served a year in prison and received a bad conduct discharge in 2014, the spokeswoman said. His rank was also reduced, she said.
  • Speaking from Japan, President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as an "act of evil" and called it "horrific."
  • "We don't know names of any of the victims at this time," said Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt in a press conference Sunday evening. As victims are identified, next of kin will be notified, he said.

The attack

Without naming Kelley, Martin described the shooter in Sunday's press conference as a young white male who was dressed in all-black "tactical-type gear" and wearing a ballistic vest.

Martin said the suspect was seen in a Valero gas station across the street from the church in Sutherland Springs at about 11:20 a.m. local time on Sunday morning.

The suspect left the gas station, crossed the street, exited his vehicle and began firing before he entered the church, Martin said.

As the suspected shooter left the church, a local resident used their own rifle to engage him, Martin said. The shooter then fled the church, while the citizen pursued him.

Texas church shooting: Live updates

Texas church shooting: Live updates

After a brief chase, law enforcement later found the suspect dead of a gunshot wound inside his vehicle. A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said multiple weapons were found in Kelley's car. Authorities said they don't know if the wound was self-inflicted or the result of the resident who fired on the suspect, Martin said.

The shooter was killed after a brief chase north into neighboring Guadalupe County, Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Robert Murphy said earlier on Sunday.

The community

Sutherland Springs is in Wilson County, about 30 miles east of San Antonio.

"My heart is broken," Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. told CNN. "We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn't matter where you're at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this."

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com