President Trump: “We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries, but this isn’t a guns situation.”
The shooter has now been identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley. According to The BBC, he had previously served in the US Air Force, but had been dismissed over allegations of domestic abuse towards his wife and child.
Devin entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in Wilson County at approximately 11:30 local time as Sunday Service was underway. He opened fire killing at least 26 people.
The victims ranged in age from 5 to 72 and included the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor, who, along with his wife, was travelling out of the state when the shooting occurred. Several others were injured.
After opening fire, the shooter left the church but was shot by a local resident. He attempted to flee the scene in his car but was pursued by the local who shot at him several times.
He was found dead, with multiple shot wounds, further down the road after he crashed his car. There were other weapons found in his car.
It’s not yet clear what his motive was.
President Donald Trump has claimed that the mass shooting was caused by a “mental health problem” and that gun laws in the United States are not to blame.
Asked whether gun control measures were the answer to the latest mass shooting in the United States, Donald Trump, who is currently in Japan meeting with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, said: “Mental health is your problem here. Based on preliminary reports, this was a very deranged individual, a lot of problems over a long period of time.
“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries, but this isn’t a guns situation. I mean, we could go into it – it’s a little bit soon to go into it – but fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was, it would have been much worse.
“But, this is a mental health problem at the highest level, it’s a very, very sad event, these are great people, it’s a very, very sad event, but this is how I view it.”
Earlier in the news conference, Trump described the shooting as an “act of evil” and sympathised with the families of the victims.
“This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of sacred worship,” he said.
“We cannot put into words the pain and grief we all feel and we cannot begin to imagine the suffering of those who lost the ones they love.”
