Two dead and seven injured at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Sunday after a gunman walked in with a shotgun and opened fire on the attendees.
Seven other people were injured, two released after treatment and five remain in the hospital in critical or serious condition.
The police have arrested Jim D. Adkisson, 58 years old and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of McKendry with further charges expected.
The attack occurred while those gathered in the church were watching children sing on stage as they put on a production of "Annie" for the congregation.
WBIR has a time line of events.
Elrod from the Moderate Voice is a member of the church who was not in attendance but he says, "I don’t understand why anybody would do this. All we know right now is that the suspect was not connected to the church in any way. I have no idea if the man had some sort of political or cultural agenda (TVUUC had just put up a sign welcoming gays to the congregation), or if it’s just some lunatic acting for no reason at all.
Please keep the members our church community in your thoughts and prayers today. This is such a shock to our congregation and our community as a whole."
According to Out and About Newspaper, the police found a multi-page, handwritten letter in the suspect's vehicle, but no motive has been publicly announced as of yet..
