At least 27 people were killed and 27 injured in a mass shooting at a Texas church this morning, a law enforcement official told ABC News.
The alleged shooter, who has not been identified, is dead, and it appears there is no longer an active threat at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, about 40 miles southeast of San Antonio, police told ABC News.
One of the 27 killed at the white clapboard church was a 14-year-old girl named Annabelle Renee Pomeroy, according to her father, Frank Pomeroy, who is pastor at the church.
Annabelle “was one very beautiful special child,” Pomeroy told ABC News by phone.
Pomeroy said he was in Oklahoma this morning — a rare weekend that he wasn’t at the church.
The other victims are his close friends, he said.
A woman who said she works at a gas station across the street from the church told ABC News she heard rapid gunfire at around 11:15 a.m., leading congregants from the church as well as customers at the station to run inside for cover.
“We heard several shots and we all started running inside the store,” said the woman, who said she is 49 but declined to give her name.
“It lasted about 15 seconds,” she said. “I yelled, ‘Get down! Get inside!’ and we all went into hiding.”
Within minutes of the gunfire, emergency personnel arrived at the scene, she said.
She said the gas station locked its doors and has not reopened.
Police formed a perimeter around the church and flooded its grounds with emergency and police vehicles, according to ABC affiliate KSAT-TV in San Antonio.
The First Baptist Church is an unassuming, white structure with a red-hued door, with numerous flags waving in front — including the “Stars and Stripes” and Lone Star state flag. It’s plotted on a dusty road in a rural area and lined with patchy, brown-green grass and nooked next to a seemingly abandoned lot.
A small group of people were seen clustered together outside the church, holding hands and attemping to pray, a KSAT-TV reporter said.
Agents from the FBI and ATF have responded to the scene.
President Donald Trump tweeted on the shooting from Japan where he is visiting on his Asia tour.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement, “The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with the people of Sutherland Springs as tragic reports come out of First Baptist Church.”
“Please join Angela and me as we pray for those impacted by this horrific shooting,” Paxton said.
ABC News’ Joi-Marie McKenzie and Michael DelMoro contributed to this report.
