VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. –
A shooting at a church in a suburb of one of Alabama’s major cities has left one person dead and two more injured Thursday evening, police said, adding that one suspect was arrested.
The shooting took place at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, Police Captain Shane Ware said in a briefing. He said officers rushed to the church after dispatchers received a call informing of an active shooter at 6:22 p.m.
He said one person had died and two others were injured in the shooting and had been rushed to hospital. One suspect is in custody, Ware said, but declined to identify the person or victims and describe how the events unfolded.
“We don’t know of any additional threats to either the Vestavia Hills community or the surrounding areas,” Ware told reporters.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Office of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives and other local police and fire agencies sent officers to the scene. Investigators remained for hours after nightfall, with yellow police tape cordoning off the church complex and emergency vehicles with flashing lights blocking the route to the church.
The Rev. Kelley Hudlow, an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of Alabama, told WBRC that the church and the community were shocked by the shooting.
“It’s shocking. St. Stephen is a community built on love, prayer and grace and they will come together,” he said in a live interview on the station. “People of all religions come together to pray for healing.”
He added that the church was receiving messages of support from people across the United States and around the world. “We need everyone. Pray, think, meditate and send love to this community because we will need everything,” he said.
The church’s website had listed a “Potluck Boomers” for Thursday night. “There will be no program, just eat and have time for coexistence,” the pamphlet said.
Al.com reported that the two injured victims were being treated at Birmingham UAB Hospital.
It was the latest in a series of deadly shootings that have rocked the nation. On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in the United States and at the National Mall in Washington, DC to renew the momentum of gun control measures following the recent deadly shootings from Buffalo, New York, to Uvalde, Texas. Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of armed violence have also put pressure on lawmakers and testified on Capitol Hill earlier this month.