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A local Texas official said that more than 20 people were shot and killed after a gunman walked inside a church and opened fire Sunday, the New York Times reported.
Paul W. Pfeil, a Wilson County, Texas, commissioner, said he couldn’t confirm the exact number of deaths or injuries. But he said there are “more than 20” dead, the Times reported.
Another official, Albert Gamez Jr., who is a Wilson County commissioner, told CNN that the shooter was chased by police into another county and died, but it’s not clear if he killed himself or was shot by police.
Many of the victims are still in the church, he said.
“You never expect something like this. My heart is broken,” he told CNN.
Another official—David Keen, a constable in Wilson County—confirmed that there “were kids involved,” the Times reported.
“We’re sending more officers on the streets to help secure Connally Memorial while they’re bringing the casualties to the hospital,” Keen said.
Sheriff Joe Tackitt told the Wilson County News that there have been multiple injuries and fatalities, including children. It was not clear how many people may have been killed or wounded, Reuters reported.
The Wilson County Texas Sheriff’s Office told Reuters that officers were responding to an incident at the church, without providing further information about the shooting.
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other law enforcement agencies were either on the scene or traveling there, according to reports.
