A man opened fire inside a church in a small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people, including children, and wounding at least 20 others.
Authorities said the man walked into the First Baptist Church, a white, wood-framed building, during the morning service and began shooting at the 50-strong congregation.
Authorities have not confirmed the number of fatalities, but a Wilson County commissioner, Albert Gamez, said he was told by emergency officials that more than 20 people were slain and more than 20 others were wounded. Other reports put the number of dead at 27.
Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told the Wilson County News that the gunman was then "taken down" after fleeing the scene of the massacre in Sutherland Springs.
The gunman escaped in a vehicle, another official said, and was killed either by a self-inflicted wound or during a confrontation with police who pursued him into a neighbouring county.
Video on KSAT television showed emergency services taking a stretcher from the church to a waiting AirLife helicopter. Some victims were taken by medical helicopter to the Brooke Army Medical Centre, said KSAT TV station.
Megan Posey, a spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Centre, which is in Floresville and about 10 miles from the church, said "multiple" victims were being treated for gunshot wounds.
A woman who lives about 10 minutes away from Sutherland Springs in Floresville and was monitoring the chaos on a police scanner and in Facebook community groups, said that everyone knows everyone in the sparsely populated county.
"This is horrific for our tiny little tight-knit town," said Alena Berlanga. "Everybody's going to be affected and everybody knows someone who's affected," she said.
US President Donald Trump tweeted from Japan, where he is on an Asian trip, that he was monitoring the situation.
He tweeted: "May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting an "evil act".
Sutherland Springs is 30 miles (48 kilometers) south east of San Antonio.
The wife of the pastor of the the church said the couple's 14-year-old daughter was among those killed in the mass shooting.
Sherri Pomeroy, wife of Pastor Frank Pomeroy, said in a text message that she lost her daughter "and many friends" in the shooting.
Mrs Pomeroy said she and her husband were out of town at the time of the attack and were now trying to get back to Sutherland Springs.
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