Eight members of one family -- including a pregnant mother and three of her children -- were among those killed in a mass shooting at a rural Texas church Sunday.
All at once, Joe and Claryce Holcombe lost children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a future great-grandchild in the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.
The 26 people gunned down ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old, authorities said this morning. Twenty others were injured in the shooting, and at least 10 of the killed or wounded were children, according to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt.
Here are the victims whose identities have been confirmed by ABC News:
Eight members of the extended Holcombe family were among the 26 dead.
Bryan Holcombe, an associate pastor for the church, was killed in the gunfire, his parents and Claryce Joe Holcombe told ABC News.
Karla Holcombe, Bryan Holcombe’s wife of about four decades, was killed, as well as Bryan and Karla Holcombe’s son, Marc Daniel Holcombe, 36.
Marc Daniel’s 1-year-old daughter, Noah Holcombe, was also killed.
Crystal Holcombe, the wife of John Holcombe, who is the son of Bryan and Karla, also died. Crystal Holcombe was pregnant, and three of her children, Emily, Megan and Greg, died as well.
Crystal Holcombe is survived by her husband and two of her children.
Haley Krueger, 16, died in the shooting, according to her mother.
Lulu White died in the shooting, according to her sister.
Tara Elyse McNulty was killed in the shooting, according to her close friend, who posted on Facebook about her death.
"My best friend, my souls sister... I love you so much. My heart is broken," she wrote.
Joann Ward and her two daughters, Brooke Ward and Emily Garza, are among the dead, Joann Ward's sister-in-law, Leslie, told ABC News.
Joann Ward is survived by her husband, Chris, and 5-year-old son Ryland, who was shot several times and is in the hospital today, family said.
Richard Rodriguez and his wife, Therese Rodriguez, were among the deceased, according to Regina Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez's daughter.
Annabelle Pomeroy, 14, was one of the individuals slain at the house of worship, according to her father, Frank Pomeroy, who is a pastor at the church.
Annabelle “was one very beautiful, special child,” Pomeroy told ABC News by phone.
Pomeroy said he was in Oklahoma during the shooting, a rare weekend that he wasn't at the church.
The pastor's wife, Sherry Pomeroy, said at this morning's news conference, "We lost more than Annabelle yesterday, and one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family that she loved fiercely."
The church family was very close, Sherry Pomeroy said.
"We ate together, we laughed together, we cried together, and we worshiped together. Now most of our church family is gone. Our building is probably beyond repair," she said. "As senseless as this tragedy was our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family yesterday. Please don’t forget Sutherland Springs."
ABC News' Lisa Sivertsen, Zunaira Zaki and Michael DelMoro contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment