WASHINGTON – A shooting yesterday morning in a church in north-eastern Texas left one person dead and others wounded, officials said.
Texas governor Greg Abbott confirmed in a statement that a suspect had been apprehended after the shooting in the Starrville Methodist Church in Winona.
Few details were immediately confirmed, but ABC affiliate KLTV said the church’s pastor pulled his gun when he found a man hiding in a restroom.
It said the man lunged at the pastor, grabbed the gun and shot him dead.
It said the man, who has not been identified, had been involved in a shooting incident the night before, adding that he was shot and apprehended following a high-speed chase.
Abbott said the state will “ensure that justice is served and the Starrville community has the resources it needs during this time”.
Winona lies about 160km east of Dallas. It has a population of about 525.
Texas has seen other church shootings in the past.
A shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs on November 5, 2017, left 26 people dead and 20 wounded. It was the worst mass shooting in state history. Shooter Devin Patrick Kelley was later found dead.
Gun laws in Texas are among the laxest in the country. – AFP, January 4, 2021
