Witnesses say a “hero” parishioner hit a gunman with a chair and held him down until police could arrive after the suspect had opened fire inside an Alabama church, killing three people.
Captain Shane Ware of the Vestavia Hills Police Department said the churchgoer’s actions had undoubtedly spared further bloodshed after the 71-year-old suspect pulled a handgun at a “Boomers Potluck” dinner at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Birmingham, on Thursday evening.
“The person that subdued the suspect in my opinion is a hero,” Mr Ware told a news conference on Friday.
The three victims of the shooting are Walter Rainey, 84, of Irondale; Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham; and an 84-year-old woman who died on Friday and has not yet been named.
Police have not yet released the name of the suspect, but say they are seeking capital murder charges from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office.
The identity of the parishioner has not been released by police.
But in an interview with AL.com, church founder Rev Doug Carpenter named him as church member Jim Musgrove.
Rev Carpenter said he witnessed Mr Musgrove hit the suspect with a chait and snatch his handgun away from him.
“He’s a real hero,” Rev Carpenter, who retired in 2005, told AL.com.
“He didn’t hit him hard enough to hurt him.”
Friends and church members took to social media to praise Mr Musgrove’s bravery and quick-thinking.
The suspected shooter only gave his name as “Mr Smith”, and described himself as a former church member.
Nobody who was present had met him before, Rev Carpenter said.
Police believe the suspect acted alone and are trying to determine a motive and whether he was known to law enforcement, Captain Ware said.
“Any past interactions involving this suspect are currently still being investigated by numerous agencies and it would be premature for me at this time to go into that topic,” Mr Ware told the news conference.
In an email sent to St Stephen’s church members on Thursday, current Rector, Rev John Burruss, said the victims of the shooting were “pillars of the community”.
“Our hearts are broken from the horrible tragedy this evening at Saint Stephen’s,” he wrote.
Former Alabama Senator Doug Jones, who lives in Vestavia Hills, told CNN the shooting was “heartbreaking”.
“It goes to show that no community is immune from this kind of gun violence that we see playing out across the country. No one is immune,” Mr Jones said.
