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At Least 26 Killed in Sutherland Springs, Texas Church Shooting

posted by takyon on Monday November 06 2017, @02:25AM   

At Least 26 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire In South Texas Church

Federal authorities are responding to a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a small community southeast of San Antonio.

In a press conference Sunday night, an official from the Texas Department of Public Safety described the scene: Around 11:20 am, the suspect, dressed in black, approached the church and began firing an assault rifle. He then entered the church and continued firing.

Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that at least 26 people were killed. A Texas Department of Public Safety official said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 72 years old. The AP reports that the pastor's 14-year-old daughter is among the dead.

The Department of Public Safety confirmed to NPR that at least 20 others were wounded. A DPS official said in the press conference that the gunman was confronted by an armed civilian outside of the church.

The shooter, who was found dead in neighboring Guadalupe County, has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, a former Air Force member.

• We are primates (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @02:45PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @02:45PM (#593057)

  One pattern stood out pretty clearly: Lethal violence increased over the course of mammal evolution. While only about 0.3 percent of all mammals die in conflict with members of their own species, that rate is sixfold higher, or about 2 percent, for primates. Early humans likewise should have about a 2 percent rate—and that lines up with evidence of violence in Paleolithic human remains.

  The medieval period was a particular killer, with human-on-human violence responsible for 12 percent of recorded deaths. But for the last century, we’ve been relatively peaceable, killing one another off at a rate of just 1.33 percent worldwide. And in the least violent parts of the world today, we enjoy homicide rates as low as 0.01 percent.

  https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/human-violence-evolution-animals-nature-science/ [nationalgeographic.com]

  Basically, we are a violent family (primates), but lately, we have become much less violent.

  Overall, despite all the news you are hearing, these are pretty peaceful times we are living in. That is why we always hear about violence from far flung places, it is rare (and thus news) and so we have to go further away to find it. Yes, sometimes it happens close, but most of the violence you hear about is in a difference state, or different nation. This is because to get news of violence, they have to go that far. If we were really in a violent time, the news would either be talking about all the killings in your state/city that day, or ignoring it completely as it wasn't "news" anymore.

  Parent