AT least 27 people have been killed in a mass shooting massacre after a gunman stormed a US Baptist church and opened fire in the middle of a service.
Witnesses reported that a male shooter wearing combat gear walked into First Baptist Church, in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a town around 30 miles from San Antonio.
The gunman was said to have fired a semi-automatic weapon into the packed congregation of about 50 during the middle of the service – stopping only to reload his gun, before fleeing.
He then sped off before cops shot him dead after a brief chase.
Albert Gamez Jr, the Wilson County Commissioner for the area, claimed that 27 people had been killed while up to 30 were said to be injured.
Cops had not confirmed this , but Sheriff Joe Tackitt said there were “multiple casualties and fatalities” in the bloody massacre.
Kids, including a two-year-old child, were among the dead.
Six helicopters flew to the scene to take away victims.
Police official Albert Gamez Jr confirmed the death toll to CBS News.
Mr Gomez Jr said: “The details are kind of sketchy but what I know right now, what they’re telling me, like 27 deceased and over 20, 25 injured.
“They’re talking about the shooter is dead also.”
Meanwhile US President Donald Trump tweeted from Japan where he is on a state visit.
He said: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene.
“I am monitoring the situation from Japan.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott added: “Our prayers are with all who were harmed by this evil act. Our thanks to law enforcement for their response.”
The latest gun massacre comes just over a month after the world was rocked by the mass shooting in Las Vegas where 59 and wounded more than 500 others after gun maniac Stephen Paddock opened fire from a hotel balcony.
And it came just over two years after a white supremacist, Dylann Roof, entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.
The United States suffers gun massacres that are unparalleled in the Western world, or indeed any other developed country.
