My1sttoday News — People were killed and injured after gunman opens fire at Alabama church in Vestavia Hills on Thursday.
Capt. Shane Ware, a spokesman for the Vestavia Hills Police Department, said in a news briefing that police responded to a report of a gunman firing St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 6:22 p.m. Central Daylight Time.
Ware said three people were shot in the church, one of whom is being treated for an “unknown injury” at a local hospital and two of whom died.
He said the suspect is in police custody. He said multiple police and fire departments, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted Vestavia Hills police in responding to the shooting.
Ware said at an earlier briefing that one person had died and two people were transported to a hospital, before later reporting that a second person had died.
“The Vestavia Hills Police Department would like to express our prayers for the families of the victims of this tragic event and for everyone in our community and greater community that is affected,” Ware said.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said in a statement to Birmingham NBC affiliate WVTM said officials will continue to “closely monitor” the situation.
“As we are learning about the shocking and tragic loss of life at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia, we want to offer our prayers for the victim’s family, the injured and the entire church community,” she said. “I am glad to hear the shooter is in custody. This should never happen — in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere.”