The man accused of killing two women in a shooting rampage at a Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court for a domestic violence hearing on Monday, a local official said.
In a chilling account of Sunday’s attack, Star Rutherford, a relative of the two slain women, said the shooter went to the Lexington-area church after morning services looking for one of her sisters but was told she wasn’t there.
“Well I guess someone’s going to have to die then,” he said and shot their mother, 72-year-old Beverly Gumm, in the chest. Rutherford spoke to the Lexington-based broadcaster WKYT-TV. The man later killed Christina Combs, who media reports said was another of Rutherford’s sisters. Two men were also critically wounded, police said Monday.
Officers shot and killed Guy House, 47, in the rear parking lot after the shootings at Richmond Road Baptist Church, a close-knit rural congregation where many members are related or close friends. Authorities offered no motive and the investigation was ongoing.
The trooper was in stable condition, and authorities have not identified the wounded.
House went to the church looking for the mother of his children, but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, citing Rachael Barnes. She identified Gumm and Combs, 34, as her mother and sister.
Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday.
Sunday’s violence began when House shot the trooper and fled after a traffic stop near Lexington’s airport, police say. He forcibly stole a vehicle and opened fire at the church about an hour later.
The trooper had stopped House after receiving a “license plate reader alert,” police said. House had active arrest warrants and he shot the trooper as they interacted with people in the vehicle, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Matt Sudduth said Monday. The others in the vehicle were not involved in the shooting, did not flee and have cooperated with investigators, he said.
A woman who witnessed that shooting said it initially appeared to be a routine traffic stop, with the trooper talking through an open window.
“And as we were driving by, I heard, ‘pop, pop’ and I knew it was gunshots,” Larissa McLaughlin told WLEX-TV in Lexington.
Police credited several people for coming to the trooper’s aid immediately.
“Without the assistance of several Good Samaritans, this likely could have been a very life-threatening injury,” Sudduth said. He didn’t offer details on what aid was provided and said police were working to identify them.
Officers tracked the stolen vehicle to the church about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot, police said.
“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday, “and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police.”
State Attorney General Russell Coleman said detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies, saying, “Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House.”
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