Oh my God.

[rivka]

A man with a shotgun walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church this morning and started shooting. One person (or maybe three; news reports differ) is dead and six more are critically injured.

TVUUC is Michael's old congregation. I am crying here. I just can't imagine. I can't imagine. They were at church. They were enfolded in a loving community. And then.

Kemper tried to comfort a little boy whose mother had been shot in the head. She said there was a handprint of blood on the back of the boys’s shirt.

I just got an e-mail on the SUUSI mailing list from someone who was with us at Closing Circle yesterday:

All of us who attended SUUSI were there, but are okay. My friend Greg is dead. He leaves a widow and foster son. Five more are listed in critical condition. We didn't recognize him and his motive is not known. I'm a little shaky, but okay so far. I helped hold him down while we waited for the police. He had a pump-action shotgun. I applaud those who disarmed him. No children were harmed, though the service was a children's play, "Annie," and the sanctuary was full of children.

Witnesses say that the man who was killed stood directly in front of the gunman, deliberately, to shield others.

A blogger who is a member of TVUUC mentions that the church just put up a sign welcoming gays and lesbians to the congregation. They host a drop-in center for gay teenagers "plus any other youth who are being harassed for religious beliefs, appearance, or abilities."

I just can't believe it. I am numb with shock.

They were at church.

Comments

[lerryn.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that's awful that someone would do that.