The third victim in a Thursday shooting at a church outside Birmingham, Alabama, has died, authorities said Friday.
The 84-year-old woman died after being rushed to a hospital following the shooting, where a man who occasionally attended Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church pulled out a handgun during a potluck dinner, according to police.
Two other people also died.
Walter Rainey, 84, was found dead at the scene of the shooting in Vestavia Hills, just south of Birmingham, Capt. Shane Ware of the Vestavia Hills Police Department said at a Friday news conference. Sarah Yeager, 75, died after being taken to a hospital, he said.
Police said the suspected gunman, who was arrested Thursday, is a 71-year-old man who occasionally attended services at the church. Ware declined to identify the suspect by name and did not provide a motive for the shooting. He added the suspect was “subdued” by another attendee off the potluck.
Thursday’s shooting in Birmingham is among a rash of recent high-profile shootings nationwide, including when four people were killed at an Oklahoma hospital; when 19 children and two teachers were gunned down at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; and when 10 Black people were killed in a shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.
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What happened in Vestavia Hills?
Officers responded to active shooter reports at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, around 6:22 pm Thursday, Ware said at a news conference.
The suspect was an attendee at a small church meeting, called a Boomers Potluck Dinner, police said.
“At some point, he produced a handgun and started shooting,” Ware said, adding the suspect was in custody and appeared to be acting alone. There were no additional threats to the community, he said.
Another attendee of the potluck subdued the suspect and held him down until law enforcement arrived, police said.
“It was really critical in saving lives,” Ware said.
Ware said he does not know how many people were at the meeting at the time of the shooting.
Who is the suspect?
Police said the suspect, who was in custody Thursday, is a 71-year-old man, but declined to release his name.
Ware said the suspect previously attended services at the church, but investigators are still looking into possible motives.
“Any past interactions involving the suspect are currently still being investigated by numerous agencies,” Ware said, adding the suspect appeared to have acted alone.
The FBI, the US Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco are assisting in the investigation, Ware said.
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Who were the victims?
Walter Rainey, 84, from Irondale, Alabama, was found dead at the scene of the shooting. Sarah Yeager, 75, from Pelham, Alabama, died after being taken to a hospital, police said.
The 84-year-old woman who died Friday was not immediately identified. Vestavia Hills police said in a Facebook post that her name was not being release because her family requested privacy.
Reeling from the shooting, community members gathered Thursday for a prayer vigil to honor the victims of the shooting, a local ABC News channel reported. In St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church’s parking lot, they joined hands and formed a circle as they prayed.
“I am so sad I’m so prayerful for the families that was affected by this,” Lynda Montana, who has been a member of the church for 20 years, told the news station. “I think our whole church family will be affected by this. I’m just in shock and disbelief.”
Multiple prayer vigils are planned for Friday at the church, the station reported.
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Where did the shooting take place?
The shooting took place during a small group gathering at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The shooting took place during a small “Boomers Potluck” gathering, Ware said.
Vestavia Hills is a suburb of about 40,000 residents and is located about seven miles south of Birmingham, one of Alabama’s two most populous cities.
Church leaders, officials react to shooting
The Rev. Kelley Hudlow, who works in the office of Bishop Glenda Curry of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, told WBRC-TV that the shooting left the church stunned. Still, she said community members are supporting each other through the loss.
“Saint Stephen’s is a community built on love and prayers and grace and they are going to come together,” Hudlow told the station. “People of all faiths are coming together to pray to hope for healing.”
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey offered prayers to the victims and the community in a statement Thursday.
“This should never happen – in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere,” she said.
Contributing: The Associated Press; Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
