A 71-year-old man fatally shot three elderly people with a handgun during a potluck dinner at an Alabama church where he occasionally attended services, police said Friday.Church members at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills were spared further violence Thursday evening when one of them rushed the gunman, struck him with a chair and held him until police arrived, a former pastor said.”It was extremely critical in saving lives,” police Capt. Shane Ware told a news conference. “The person that subdued the suspect, in my opinion, was a hero.”The suspected shooter, Robert Findlay Smith, was an occasional attendee of the church, police said. Ware said another church member subdued Smith after the shooting until police could arrive and take him into custody.Smith was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Friday afternoon on capital murder charges. He is being held without bond. Authorities believe he acted alone and there is no threat to the community.Walter Rainey, 84, of nearby Irondale was killed at the church and Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham died after being taken to a hospital. An 84-year-old Hoover woman whose name hasn’t been released was injured in the shooting but died Friday at the hospital.Police shared this update Friday afternoon:”It is with great sadness that the Vestavia Hills Police Department reports the passing of the third shooting victim from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church. An 84-year-old white female was transported, from the scene, to UAB hospital for treatment on the evening of June 16, 2022. The family of the victim asks that we do not release her name for reasons of privacy. Our thoughts and prayers continuously go out to the victims, their families and all who are affected by this tragic event.” The event was a “Boomers Potluck” gathering inside the church, according to messages posted on the church’s Facebook page by pastor the Rev. John Burruss. He said he was in Greece on a pilgrimage with a group of members and trying to get back to Alabama.Video: Vestavia Hills residents react to deadly church shooting:Police are still trying to determine the shooter’s motive, Ware said.Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry told reporters his “close-knit, resilient, loving community” had been rocked by “this senseless act of violence.” The bedroom community is one of the wealthiest cities in Alabama, home to many business people, doctors and lawyers who work in nearby Birmingham. Vestavia Hills is known for top-flight schools and a family-centered, suburban lifestyle. It has nearly 40,000 residents, most of whom are white. The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the church’s associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims and church members who witnessed the shooting, but also “for the person who perpetrated the shooting.””We pray that you will work in that person’s heart,” Bridges said. “And we pray that you will help us to forgive.”Bridges, who is currently in London, alluded to other recent mass shootings as she prayed that elected officials in Washington and Alabama “will see what has happened at St. Stephens and Uvalde and Buffalo and in so many other places and their hearts will be changed, minds will be opened.””And that our culture will change and that our laws will change in ways that will protect all of us,” she added.Video: Bishop of Alabama on deadly shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal:There have been several high-profile shootings in May and June, starting with a racist attack on May 14 that killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The following week, a gunman massacred 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.Thursday’s shooting happened just over a month after one person was killed and five injured when a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners at a church in Southern California. It comes nearly seven years to the day after an avowed white supremacist killed nine people during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.Agents with the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives joined investigators at the scene, which remained cordoned off Friday with yellow police tape as police vehicles with flashing lights blocked the route to the church.On Saturday, thousands of people rallied in the U.S. and at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to renew calls for stricter gun control measures. Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of gun violence lobbied legislators and testified on Capitol Hill earlier this month.Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement late Thursday lamenting what she called the shocking and tragic loss of life. Although she said she was glad to hear the suspect was in custody, she wrote: “This should never happen — in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere.”
A 71-year-old man fatally shot three elderly people with a handgun during a potluck dinner at an Alabama church where he occasionally attended services, police said Friday.
Church members at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills were spared further violence Thursday evening when one of them rushed the gunman, struck him with a chair and held him until police arrived, a former pastor said.
“It was extremely critical in saving lives,” police Capt. Shane Ware told a news conference. “The person that subdued the suspect, in my opinion, was a hero.”
The suspected shooter, Robert Findlay Smith, was an occasional attendee of the church, police said. Ware said another church member subdued Smith after the shooting until police could arrive and take him into custody.
Smith was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Friday afternoon on capital murder charges. He is being held without bond. Authorities believe he acted alone and there is no threat to the community.
Walter Rainey, 84, of nearby Irondale was killed at the church and Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham died after being taken to a hospital. An 84-year-old Hoover woman whose name hasn’t been released was injured in the shooting but died Friday at the hospital.
Police shared this update Friday afternoon:
“It is with great sadness that the Vestavia Hills Police Department reports the passing of the third shooting victim from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church. An 84-year-old white female was transported, from the scene, to UAB hospital for treatment on the evening of June 16, 2022. The family of the victim asks that we do not release her name for reasons of privacy. Our thoughts and prayers continuously go out to the victims, their families and all who are affected by this tragic event.”
The event was a “Boomers Potluck” gathering inside the church, according to messages posted on the church’s Facebook page by pastor the Rev. John Burruss. He said he was in Greece on a pilgrimage with a group of members and trying to get back to Alabama.
Video: Vestavia Hills residents react to deadly church shooting:
Police are still trying to determine the shooter’s motive, Ware said.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry told reporters his “close-knit, resilient, loving community” had been rocked by “this senseless act of violence.” The bedroom community is one of the wealthiest cities in Alabama, home to many business people, doctors and lawyers who work in nearby Birmingham. Vestavia Hills is known for top-flight schools and a family-centered, suburban lifestyle. It has nearly 40,000 residents, most of whom are white.
The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the church’s associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims and church members who witnessed the shooting, but also “for the person who perpetrated the shooting.”
“We pray that you will work in that person’s heart,” Bridges said. “And we pray that you will help us to forgive.”
Bridges, who is currently in London, alluded to other recent mass shootings as she prayed that elected officials in Washington and Alabama “will see what has happened at St. Stephens and Uvalde and Buffalo and in so many other places and their hearts will be changed, minds will be opened.”
“And that our culture will change and that our laws will change in ways that will protect all of us,” she added.
Video: Bishop of Alabama on deadly shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal:
There have been several high-profile shootings in May and June, starting with a racist attack on May 14 that killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The following week, a gunman massacred 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Thursday’s shooting happened just over a month after one person was killed and five injured when a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners at a church in Southern California. It comes nearly seven years to the day after an avowed white supremacist killed nine people during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Agents with the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives joined investigators at the scene, which remained cordoned off Friday with yellow police tape as police vehicles with flashing lights blocked the route to the church.
On Saturday, thousands of people rallied in the U.S. and at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to renew calls for stricter gun control measures. Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of gun violence lobbied legislators and testified on Capitol Hill earlier this month.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement late Thursday lamenting what she called the shocking and tragic loss of life. Although she said she was glad to hear the suspect was in custody, she wrote: “This should never happen — in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere.”
