VESTAVIA HILLS, Alabama: A 70-year-old visitor previously attended some services at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church before police said he had come to a potluck dinner, pulled out a handgun and fatally shot three elderly participants Killed, one of whom died in the arms of his wife as he whispered words of love in her ear.
A former pastor said church members escaped further violence Thursday evening when one of them ran over the gunman, hit him with a chair and held him until police arrived. The Jefferson County District Attorney announced that suspect Robert Findlay Smith was charged with murder Friday.
Shocking violence in a wealthy suburb of Birmingham stunned a community known for its family-centered lifestyle. It also deepened unease in a nation still grappling with recent massacres by gunmen who attacked a Texas school, a New York grocery store and another California church.
“Why would a man who has been around for a while suddenly decide that he will go to a dinner and kill someone?” The Rev. Doug Carpenter, pastor of St. Stephen’s, held the position for three decades before retiring in 2005. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Carpenter said all three shooting victims were members of the church attending monthly dinners, which still attend Sunday services but were not present on Thursday night. A Facebook post referred to the gathering as a “boomers potluck”.
Carpenter said a victim’s wife and other witnesses told what had happened. He said a man who introduced himself only as “Mr.” Smith” himself was seated at a table – as he had done while going to the previous church dinner.
“People tried to talk to him and he was far away and very lonely,” Carpenter told The Associated Press by telephone.
At Thursday’s dinner, church member Walter Bartlett Rainey invited the visitor to join him at his table, Carpenter said, but the man declined. He said that Raini’s wife noticed that the visitor was not eating.
“Linda Rainey said she had no food and offered to fix a plate for her, and she turned it down,” Carpenter said.
Shortly thereafter, Carpenter said, the man drew his gun and opened fire — shooting Walter Rainey and two other church members. Carpenter said another member, a man in his 70s, grabbed a chair and charged the gunman.
“He hit her with a folding chair, wrestled her to the ground, took the gun from her and hit her in the head with his gun,” said Carpenter.
Church members held the suspect until police arrived, Police Capt. Shane Ware said. A police mugshot showed Smith with cuts to his left eye and nose and forehead.
“The man who subdued the suspect was, in my opinion, a hero,” Ware told a news conference Friday, adding that the act was “extremely important in saving lives.”
Renee, 84, died on the spot. His wife of six decades was not harmed.
Renee’s family said in a statement, “We are all grateful that she was spared and died in her arms while words of comfort and love murmured in her ears.”
Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham, died in a hospital soon after and an 84-year-old woman died on Friday, police said. Police did not release his name, citing the family’s request for privacy.
Ware said Smith and the three victims were all white. He said police were investigating what prompted the suspect who made an occasional visit to the church. Authorities issued a search warrant at Smith’s home less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) away on Friday.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records show that Smith is a licensed gun dealer whose business is listed at his home address. Court records show that Smith filed a lawsuit in 2008 against Samford University, a private university in metro Birmingham, alleging that campus security wrongfully detained him and that he was charged by a police officer. Accused of impersonating an officer.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry told reporters that her “close, resilient, loving community” was shaken by “this senseless act of violence”. It is home to approximately 40,000 residents, most of whom are white, including many businessmen, doctors and lawyers who work in Birmingham.
The church’s pastor, Rev. John Burruss, said in a Facebook post that he was in Greece on a pilgrimage and was trying to get back.
Rebecca Bridges, associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page on Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims and members of the church who witnessed the shooting, but also for “the person who perpetrated the shooting.”
“We pray that you will work into that person’s heart,” Bridges said. “And we pray that you will help us forgive.”
Bridges, who is currently in London, pointed to the recent mass shootings, praying that “our culture will change and our laws will change in ways that will protect us all.”
Thursday’s shooting comes more than a month after one person was killed and five were injured after a man opened fire on a Taiwanese parishioner at a Southern California church. The day also comes nearly seven years after a white supremacist killed nine people during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
A message posted by St Stephens said it would hold Sunday services, which said: “We will gather at the table that has taught many that love is always falling apart in this world, no matter how we Experience anything, whether it be doubt, anger, loss, grief, or death – but still joy and life.”