<p align="justify" class="title">A black-clad gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire on a small town Texas church during Sunday morning services, killing 26 people and wounding 20 in the latest mass shooting to shock the United States.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Authorities did not identify the gunman, saying only that he was a "young white male, maybe in his early 20s," who was wearing a bulletproof vest and found dead in his vehicle after being confronted by a local resident.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Exactly five weeks after the worst shooting in modern US history, the latest tragedy prompted an outpouring of condolences, led by US President Donald Trump.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The victims, who ranged in age from five to 72, were gunned down at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a rural community of about 400 people located 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The gunman fired outside at the church before entering the building and continuing to spray bullets, said Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. Our local citizen pursued the suspect at that time," Martin said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Law enforcement later found the gunman dead in his car, which had crashed, on the Wilson-Guadalupe county line. It was not clear if he had committed suicide or was shot by the resident who had confronted him.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Multiple weapons were found in the car, which was processed by bomb technicians.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have multiple, multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect's vehicle was located," said Martin.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have been following up on the suspect and where he's from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">US media outlets identified the shooter as a 26-year-old veteran who had faced a court-martial and was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force in 2014.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">US Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told AFP that the man had served in the logistics readiness at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, from 2010 until his discharge.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"There's so many families who have lost family members. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters," Governor Greg Abbott said, warning the toll could rise.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"The tragedy, of course, is worsened by the fact that it occurred in a church, a place of worship, where these people were innocently gunned down. We mourn their loss, but we support their family members."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The wounded had been transported to various hospitals with "injuries that vary from minor to very severe," Martin said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The dead included the 14-year-old daughter of pastor Frank Pomeroy, the church leader told ABC News.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Annabelle Renee Pomeroy "was one very beautiful, special child," her father said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Frank Pomeroy had been in the neighboring state of Oklahoma at the time of the shooting, and was driving back to Texas after the tragedy.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Other victims, some of whom were evacuated by helicopter, included a six-year-old boy named Rylan who was in surgery after being shot four times, his uncle told CBS News. A two-year-old was also shot and wounded, The Dallas Morning News reported.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">A spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Center in nearby Floresville said the hospital received eight patients with gunshot wounds. Four were transferred to San Antonio.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Police formed a perimeter around the area. Tearful relatives and neighbors stood outside, nervously awaiting news from inside the traditional, white-frame church.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were headed to Sutherland Springs, the agencies said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">President Donald Trump, who is traveling in Asia, said "our hearts are broken."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of worship," he said in Tokyo.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We pull together, we join hands, we lock arms and through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The president promised his administration's "full support" to the investigation.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">As with so many other shootings before this one, Democrats pounced on the occasion to renew calls for gun control, a hot button issue in a country that holds the right to bear arms as almost sacred.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">In denouncing the "act of hatred," Trump's predecessor Barack Obama said: "May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas fired down from a hotel room onto an outdoor concert, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">And a little more than two years ago, white supremacist Dylann Roof entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.</p>
<p align="justify" class="title">A black-clad gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire on a small town Texas church during Sunday morning services, killing 26 people and wounding 20 in the latest mass shooting to shock the United States.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Authorities did not identify the gunman, saying only that he was a "young white male, maybe in his early 20s," who was wearing a bulletproof vest and found dead in his vehicle after being confronted by a local resident.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Exactly five weeks after the worst shooting in modern US history, the latest tragedy prompted an outpouring of condolences, led by US President Donald Trump.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The victims, who ranged in age from five to 72, were gunned down at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a rural community of about 400 people located 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The gunman fired outside at the church before entering the building and continuing to spray bullets, said Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. Our local citizen pursued the suspect at that time," Martin said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Law enforcement later found the gunman dead in his car, which had crashed, on the Wilson-Guadalupe county line. It was not clear if he had committed suicide or was shot by the resident who had confronted him.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Multiple weapons were found in the car, which was processed by bomb technicians.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have multiple, multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect's vehicle was located," said Martin.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We have been following up on the suspect and where he's from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">US media outlets identified the shooter as a 26-year-old veteran who had faced a court-martial and was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force in 2014.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">US Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told AFP that the man had served in the logistics readiness at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, from 2010 until his discharge.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"There's so many families who have lost family members. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters," Governor Greg Abbott said, warning the toll could rise.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"The tragedy, of course, is worsened by the fact that it occurred in a church, a place of worship, where these people were innocently gunned down. We mourn their loss, but we support their family members."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The wounded had been transported to various hospitals with "injuries that vary from minor to very severe," Martin said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The dead included the 14-year-old daughter of pastor Frank Pomeroy, the church leader told ABC News.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Annabelle Renee Pomeroy "was one very beautiful, special child," her father said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Frank Pomeroy had been in the neighboring state of Oklahoma at the time of the shooting, and was driving back to Texas after the tragedy.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Other victims, some of whom were evacuated by helicopter, included a six-year-old boy named Rylan who was in surgery after being shot four times, his uncle told CBS News. A two-year-old was also shot and wounded, The Dallas Morning News reported.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">A spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Center in nearby Floresville said the hospital received eight patients with gunshot wounds. Four were transferred to San Antonio.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Police formed a perimeter around the area. Tearful relatives and neighbors stood outside, nervously awaiting news from inside the traditional, white-frame church.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were headed to Sutherland Springs, the agencies said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">President Donald Trump, who is traveling in Asia, said "our hearts are broken."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"This act of evil occurred as the victims and their families were in their place of worship," he said in Tokyo.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"We pull together, we join hands, we lock arms and through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The president promised his administration's "full support" to the investigation.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">As with so many other shootings before this one, Democrats pounced on the occasion to renew calls for gun control, a hot button issue in a country that holds the right to bear arms as almost sacred.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">In denouncing the "act of hatred," Trump's predecessor Barack Obama said: "May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst."</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas fired down from a hotel room onto an outdoor concert, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">And a little more than two years ago, white supremacist Dylann Roof entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.</p>