About 20 people are recovering in the hospital after a deadly church shooting Sunday morning in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt reported Monday morning. He said they were in stable condition. Not including the suspect, 26 people died.
“I think nearly everyone had some type of injury,” Tackitt said.
Between 12 and 14 children were hurt or killed, Tackitt said. They stick out to him most, and he’ll have a hard time getting the scene out of his head.
“I guess it hasn’t really hit yet,” Tackitt said. “It will. They were good people.”
Tackitt said he knew several people in the First Baptist Church, but he did not know the gunman and doesn’t believe many people there knew him.
Tackitt confirmed that the visiting pastor was one of the victims. The church’s pastor was out of town with his wife when the shooting occurred, the Associated Press reported, but his 14-year-old daughter was one of those who died.
A neighbor’s daughter heard the gunfire, and that man grabbed his weapon and came forward to confront the shooter. He said the man who came forward doesn’t want to be called a hero — but the sheriff says he is one.
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(Story from KXAN.com)