Posted on 07/27/2008 8:43:01 AM PDT by 2nd amendment mama
11:29 am
Steve Drevik says the suspect isn't believed to have any connection to the church.
11:19 am
Steve Drevik, a member of the TVUU Church spoke to media outside the church building, where media are assembled.
He says the suspect is now in custody.
Drevik says the shooting happened during a regular service, as children of the church were performing music from Annie for parishioners.
A man with long blond hair, who appeared to be in his 40s, walked into the sanctuary and opened fiire with a shotgun, shooting indiscriminately.
At least six or seven people were hit by the gunfire. They have been transported to UT Medical Center. Two are believed to be in serious condition.
No children are believed to have been hit by the gunfire.
Some of the children were taken next door to Second Presbyterian Church for shelter.
Numerous KPD officers are on the scene.
11:00 am
Multiple people have suffered gunshot wounds in what witnesses describe as a mass shooting inside a church in West Knoxville Sunday morning.
The shootings happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Kingston Pike.
A witness who spoke to 10 News said police had arrived and one person was being detained at the scene.
A children's production of "Annie" was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting, the witness, who is a member of the church, said. The gunman walked into a packed sanctuary and opened fire.
The number of people shot and the extent of their injuries has not been confirmed, but the witness said he saw at least five people shot.
Church members heard a loud boom during the church service, which began around 10:15 a.m., the witness said. Several other loud booms followed, and the witness said the gunman seemed to be shooting randomly across a row of people. Two congregants tackled the gunman, he said.
Many people fled to the Second Presbyterian Church after the shooting, and that church was placed on lockdown, according to a 10 News crew at the scene. People have since been allowed to return to the Unitarian church building, where police are questioning witnesses.
Stay with WBIR for the very latest on this rapidly developing story.
Good! Hope they decleated him.
Can I ask the reason this was pulled from Breaking News?
Police: 1 dead, 8 hurt in church shooting; suspect in custody
Gunfire erupted during play at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church By Don Jacobs , Amy McRary , Frank Munger , J.J. Stambaugh
Originally published 11:01 a.m., July 27, 2008
Updated 04:08 p.m., July 27, 2008
Shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Several people were shot with a gunman opened fire at the church around 10:18 a.m., Sunday.
A gunman opened fire at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church this morning, shooting eight people with a shotgun, killing one, according to Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV.
Seven of the wounded were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to spokeswoman Becky Thompson.
Five remain in critical condition this afternoon; one is listed as serious. Another was treated and released.
All were adults: four women and three men.
Another victim was trampled and was treated and released at a hospital, Owen said during a press conference this afternoon.
Church member Greg McKendry, 60, was shot and killed when he confronted the gunman during a children’s presentation of the musical, “Annie Jr!”
“He was the first person he encountered,” according to Owen.
“Greg McKendry stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us,” witness Barbara Kemper said.
“Make sure everyone knows that Greg McKendry was a hero, a total hero,” Taylor Bessette said of the man who has been his foster father just a few months.
The gunman was described as having no connection to the church and was taken into custody within minutes of the shooting, according to Owen, and no motive was immediately available.
The church is located at 2931 Kingston Pike just west of the University of Tennessee.
Police dispatchers received a report of the shooting at 10:18 a.m. and took a man into custody at 10:22 a.m.
The shooter, described as a white man with long blond hair, in his 40s, with a thin build, about 6 feet tall, was wearing jeans and a bloody T-shirt, according to church member Steve Drevik, 41.
He was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and had a fanny pack with extra ammunition.
“He will be charged shortly,” Owen said.
The FBI is assisting in the investigation, Owen said.
He declined to release the suspect’s name but said he currently lives in the Knoxville area.
Asked about the children who were performing, Owen said the shooting was “in sight of them and all the people shot were in the line of fire.”
McKendry’s foster son Taylor was a member of the cast, getting ready to take the stage and said the shooter was carrying a guitar case.
Church member John Bohstedt said in addition to the guitar case, the gunman carried a smaller case that could have been a photo bag. Bohstedt said the man took a shotgun out, walked to the back door on the right back corner of the sanctuary and took two shots,
Kemper said the gunman walked into the side of the sanctuary after firing one shot from a hallway.
She said the gunman was yelling “hateful things” and was wearing a red, white and blue T-shirt.
“He looked like bad guy.” Kemper said.
The gunman was shooting indiscriminately, Kemper said. She said at least four shotgun blasts were fired on the Second Presbyterian side of the church.
She said church members who were in the play, Bohstedt and Terry Uselton, jumped on the gunman and restrained him.
Members began telling McKendry to take a breath.
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.
Religious Education Director Brian Griffin stepped forward and oversaw efforts to calm the crowd and talk to authorities, witness Ted Lollis said.
“Everybody is shocked,” Lollis said, but “there was a lot of heroics.”
After the shooting and after the gunman was restrained, all the members of the church left out the doors behind the front of the sanctuary.
Drevik said he saw three men and two women with gunshot wounds, described as shotgun pellets to the scalp.
The suspect was taken to KPD’s headquarters on the third floor of the Safety Building downtown where he is being interviewed, according to Owen.
“The church was full,” police Lt. Jerry Armstrong said, although he could not estimate how many people were in the church.
The musical was a culmination of a summer theater workshop conducted by the Church Music Director, Vicki Masters.
According to Lollis, congregants were expecting the unexpected in the inter-generational service because it was a children’s performance.
Masters reportedly turned around with a look of horror on her face and started running towards the sounds.
Everyone was “wrapped up listening to these kids because they were doing a great job,” said witness Sheila Bowen, a retired nurse who delivered babies.
She said she heard six or seven shots.
“Oh my God, they were so loud,” she said.
At first she said she thought the loud noises might have been part of the play.
She said she heard a man say “get out, get out of here.”
She did not see the suspect because “he was on the ground and a really strong hefty guy had him pinned down.”
Leigh Ann Dickert, who lives next door to the church, said when she first heard the shots, she thought the church was having some kind of race and the screams were cheers.
When the cheering went on too long she said she realized they were screams. She looked out her window and saw people running through the parking lot.
Dickert said she went up to one of the parishioners who told her that a man came into the church with a shotgun concealed in a guitar case.
The man apparently walked up to another man in the back of the church, shot him “point blank, right there” and then opened fire on the crowd, she said.
The man was tackled when he paused to reload.
By early afternoon, about five police chaplains were on the scene, the Knoxville chapter of the American Red Cross was providing water, and witnesses continued to be questioned inside the church building.
Members who were not witnesses were being permitted to leave the grounds.
“The Red Cross is … providing counseling and meals to all the personnel that are there, congregation and emergency service workers,” Knoxville Fire Department Capt. Brent Seymour said. KFD provides first-responder emergency services and sent three vehicles to the scene immediately. An on-call EMS worker was on the nearby Cumberland Avenue Strip, heard the call and went to the church as well, Seymour said.
The Red Cross is “bringing in mental health workers for anyone who wishes to talk.”
Shortly after 1 p.m., members of the Red Cross walked into the church with their arms filled with teddy bears. Bears are often used to comfort children.
The church’s minister, the Rev. Chris Buice, was on vacation in Asheville, N.C., and drove immediately back when he was notified of the shooting.
“Greg McKendry — we loved him,” Buice said, his eyes filling with tears at the afternoon press conference.
“We loved Greg McKendry, please pray for this congregation because we are grieving the loss of a wonderful man.”
In a statement, Mayor Bill Haslam said, “Today Knoxville suffered a tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the church community,” Mayor Bill Haslam said in a statement.
A special meeting has been called at 6 p.m. Westside Unitarian Universalist Church, 616 Fretz Road in Farragut, to update members of the church on the events and “help us deal with this tragedy,” according to a church e-mail.
In an e-mail Bohstedt stated. “As far as we know, this has nothing to do with the church. the production, personal conflicts or anything else. Please, let’s not speculate.” He asked, “Let us all pray for the victims, including the children that were traumatized by this terrible event. Church leaders did a fine job of helping people come together. Blessings on us all- a very tragic day for our blessed community.”
Carrie Niceley, 19, of Knoxville said she heard about the shooting when it was announced at her church, First Presbyterian.
She came to the church with a bouquet of flower picked from the First Presbyterian sanctuary.
“We think a church should be more of a place for love,” she said when asked about the shooting.
She said she knows members of the church and wants everyone to “they’re in our thoughts and prayers.”
It wasn’t done by a Mod. Maybe a poster.
ARTICLE SNIPPET - QUOTE:
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=61322
Unitarian Minister Chris Buice: “Pray for us”
Katie Allison Granju Updated: 7/27/2008 5:06:09 PM Posted: 7/27/2008 10:33:12 AM
Listen To Article (67) Recommend (61) Print Email Larger Smaller
This is a developing story. Click “refresh” on your Web browser for the latest updates.
5:04 pmTwo victims in the attack have been treated and released at this point; it was previously reported one of those victims was treated and released from UT. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center has confirmed one church member was taken to Fort Sanders, treated, and released. 3:41 pm
Church leaders, police officials, and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam gathered outside the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Sunday afternoon to address the morning shooting.
KPD Chief Sterling Owen said officials are not ready to release the suspect’s name or age, but he did say that mental illness is not believed to be a factor in the suspect’s actions. Owen also said the FBI is now involved in the investigation. Owen confirmed witness reports indicating that the suspect arrived on the scene with a large quantity of ammunition. He also noted that the suspect had attempted to conceal the 12 gauge shotgun he used in the shooting by carrying it in a guitar case.
Owen confirmed the identity of the one fatality in the shooting as Greg McKendry. He said eight others were injured by gunfire.
Owen said McKendry was likely the first person the gunman encountered after entering the sanctuary.
According to UT Medical Center, seven gunshot victims were brought to their facility. Five are in critica l condition. One is in serious condition. One was treated and released.
TVUUC Minister Chris Buice said he was in Asheville on vacation at the time of the shooting, but returned as soon as heard the news. He teared up in speaking of McKendry’s death, asking the Knoxville community to “pray for us.”
3:15 pm
A church member tells WBIR there were “at least 200” congregants in the sanctuary at the time of the attack.
May God bless all who are involved in this evil event.
Agreed...thanks for the update.
Agreed...thanks for the update.
bttt
Thank you ThreePuttinDude.
Just watched the local news.
They said one man died as he tried to stop the shooter. Eight injured. The shooter is Jim D. Atkinson from Powell, and at this point authorities can find no connection with him and this church. The attacker is 58 years old.
Several men attacked the shooter and held him till cops could get there.
60 year old Usher Greg McKindry (don’t know about correct spelling of his name) was killed. The news report said the shooter had lots of ammo and had planned on inflicting lots of damage.
Interesting information.
Good thing two unarmed men were able to tackle an armed man and subdue him.
Thanks
You’re welcome :)
I'm sorry. But, I am sick and tired of the misuse of the word "tragedy."
Every bad thing that ever happens is, somehow, a tragedy. Anything that causes pain and makes us feel bad is a tragedy.
And, I'm guessing there is already a rush to find out why the perp did it. You know what? I don't give a damn why he did it. And I want some straight talk about the people who do this, especially from elected leaders.
Words like:
Crime
Evil
Unprovoked assault
Quick and sure punishment will be pursued
And the last needs to be first. This piece of human debris needs to be arraigned by now and placed on trial seven days from today. When he is found guilty, he should get one appeal and that appeal needs to be to a three or five judge panel who are allowed to overturn a jury's verdict on only very narrowly defined factors.
Make that decision in seven more days and then proceed with punishmnet.
Rant off. I am fed up. We have a mope here in upper east Tennessee who has been gaming the system for, I think five years. His name is Howard Hawk Willis.
Just on the local news... the shooter, Jim D. Atkisson, 58 years old, charged with first degree murder. He is from Knoxville/Knox County.
Any chance of a capital charge here?
Seriously, prayers up for the Prince of Peace to comfort the victims and their loved ones.
Lord have mercy.
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