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Relatives of Buffalo shooting victim break down in tears: ‘This shouldn’t have happened’

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The relatives of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, the oldest victim slain in this weekend’s mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, were overcome with emotion at a news conference on Monday.

Ruth Whitfield was a loving wife of 68 years, a devoted mother of four children and a beloved grandmother, her family said.

She was among the 10 people, all of whom were Black, who were gunned down in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Authorities are calling Saturday’s massacre a “racially motivated hate crime.”

Through tears and hugs, her family gathered on Monday to speak to reporters alongside attorneys including civil rights attorney Ben Crump. One family member broke down and sobbed multiple times during the news conference.

Ruth Whitfield went to visit her husband every day in the nursing home where he’s lived for eight years, one of her sons, Garnell Whitfield, a former Buffalo fire chief, told reporters.

He said he doesn’t know how to tell his father that his primary caretaker is gone.

“There’s nothing we can do that’s going to take away the hurt, take away these tears, take away the pain, take away the hole in our hearts. Because part of us is gone,” he said. “For her to be taken from us and taken from this world by someone that’s just full of hate for no reason … it is very hard for us to handle right now.”

He went on, “What I loved most about my mom is how she loved us, how she loved our family unconditionally. How she sacrificed everything for us.”

Daughter Robin Whitfield said, “My mom was my best friend. We went fishing together, we went camping together.”

To the shooter, she said, “How dare you?”

Daughter Angela called her mother an “86-year-old powerhouse. She was beautiful, she was immaculate and she loved us.”

Garnell Whitfield added: “We’re not just hurting — we’re angry … this shouldn’t have happened. We do our best to be good citizens … we believe in God, we trust him, we treat people with decency and we love even our enemies.”

He called out U.S. leaders for not protecting them and said he’s speaking out in hopes of contributing to positive change.

“We need help. We’re asking you to help us, help us change this. This can’t keep happening,” he said.

Garnell Whitfield told ABC News on Sunday that his mother went to the nursing home nearly every day. It was important to her to be “taking care of him, making sure he was well cared for by the staff, washing, ironing his clothes, making sure he was dressed appropriately, making sure his nails were cut and clean and shaved,” he said.

Even as her own health began to weaken, Ruth Whitfield still tried to visit her husband each day, taking days off only when she felt too debilitated to make the trip, her son said.

After suffering “a very difficult childhood,” Ruth Whitfield “was all about family” when she became a mother, Garnell Whitfield said.

“And she rose above it, and she raised us in spite of all of that, being very poor,” he said. “She raised us to be productive men and women.”

Supreme Court strikes campaign finance rule in win for Sen. Ted Cruz

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority Monday struck down a 20-year-old campaign finance limit aimed at curbing corruption in politics, delivering a win to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who had challenged the federal law.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in an opinion joined by the five other conservative justices, said that caps on a candidate’s use of campaign contributions to repay a personal loan to his or her campaign violate First Amendment rights to engage in political speech.

Cruz loaned $260,000 to his reelection campaign in 2018, one day before the vote. After the election, he was unable to recoup the full amount from campaign coffers because the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 set a $250,000 limit and imposes a strict 20-day post-election grace period for repayment.

“This limit on the use of post-election funds increases the risk that candidate loans over $250,000 will not be repaid in full, inhibiting candidates from making such loans in the first place,” Roberts wrote.

“The First Amendment ‘has its fullest and most urgent application precisely to the conduct of campaigns for political office,'” Roberts wrote, quoting from a 1971 court decision. “It safeguards the ability of a candidate to use personal funds to finance campaign speech, protecting his freedom ‘to speak without legislative limit on behalf of his own candidacy.'”

“This broad protection, we have explained, ‘reflects our profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,'” Roberts continued. “This provision, by design and effect, burdens candidates who wish to make expenditures on behalf of their own candidacy through personal loans.”

The decision means Cruz can legally recover the remaining $10,000.

Justice Elena Kagan, in a dissent joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, blasted the decision as a blow to public integrity, opening the door to self-enrichment by politicians.

“Political contributions that will line a candidate’s own pockets, given after his election to office, pose a special danger of corruption. The candidate has a more-than-usual interest in obtaining the money (to replenish his personal finances), and is now in a position to give something in return,” she wrote. “The donors well understand his situation, and are eager to take advantage of it. In short, everyone’s incentives are stacked to enhance the risk of dirty dealing.”

“At the very least—even if an illicit exchange does not occur— the public will predictably perceive corruption in post-election payments directly enriching an officeholder,” Kagan added. “Congress enacted Section 304 to protect against those harms. In striking down the law today, the Court greenlights all the sordid bargains Congress thought right to stop.”

In wake of Buffalo shooting, Liz Cheney says House GOP leaders ‘enabled white nationalism’

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Top Republicans in the House of Representatives are facing new scrutiny as critics, including within their own party, contend they failed to condemn the same racist rhetoric espoused by the suspected gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket on Saturday.

The far-right conspiracy that white Americans are being intentionally replaced by minorities and immigrants — known as the “great replacement theory” — was included in a 180-page screed posted online by the alleged shooter.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a frequent critic of her own party, on Monday singled out what she called a parallel between those beliefs and the behavior of some fellow conservatives.

“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,” she wrote in a tweet. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”

Cheney was notably replaced last year from her No. 3 post in the House’s Republican leadership after saying she would “not sit back and watch in silence” as former President Donald Trump continued to falsely claim he won the presidential election.

In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Cheney’s successor, has become a primary target of criticism over how members of the GOP have voiced ideas similar to “replacement theory.”

“Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION. Their plan to grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington,” Stefanik said in a Facebook ad for her reelection, which launched last August.

According to Facebook, the ad, pushed out repeatedly, reached hundreds of thousands of people.

When Stefanik first tweeted condolences to her home state on Saturday, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the only other House Republican to sit on the Jan. 6 select committee with Cheney, said in a tweet, “Did you know: @EliseStefanik pushes white replacement theory?”

“The #3 in the house GOP. @Liz_Cheney got removed for demanding truth. @GOPLeader should be asked about this,” Kinzinger added.

Fueling the criticism on social media was a 2021 editorial from Stefanik’s hometown newspaper, The Albany Times Union, which blasted her last September in a piece titled “How low, Miss Stefanik?”

The editorial board had focused on Stefanik’s “despicable” Facebook ads that echoed elements of “replacement theory.” Her ads didn’t mention the conspiracy theory by name, but they insisted, in part, that Democrats were looking to grant citizenship to immigrants who entered the country illegally in order to somehow gain an enduring majority — or, in Stefanik’s words, a “permanent election insurrection.”

With the piece recirculating on social media in the wake of the shooting, Stefanik and her team are pushing back on the renewed focus on her campaign ads.

Her office said Monday that making any link between her past comments and the shooting was a “new disgusting low” for Democrats and “Never Trump” Republicans as well as the media.

“Despite sickening and false reporting, Congresswoman Stefanik has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement,” Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser, said in a statement.

“The shooting was an act of evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.

Stefanik, DeGrasse said, “opposes mass amnesty for illegal immigrants …. She strongly supports legal immigration and is one of the national leaders credited with diversifying the Republican Party through candidate recruitment and messaging.”

ABC News previously reported that evidence points to the Buffalo shooting being a calculated, racially-motivated execution by the suspect, an 18-year-old white man, according to multiple sources and a review of FBI cases and testimony. The teen gunman allegedly wanted a race war and livestreamed his attack in an apparent effort to spur others to kill minorities, sources said.

The FBI is investigating the mass shooting as a hate crime and a case of “racially motivated violent extremism” after Erie County Sheriff John Garcia described the attack as a “straight-up racially motivated hate crime.”

The suspect has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder and is being held without bail.

Buffalo gunman was ‘armed with weapons of war and hate-filled soul’: Biden

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The gunman who opened fire on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities described as a “racially-motivated attack” has a “hate-filled soul,” President Joe Biden said Sunday.

While speaking at an event to honor law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2021, Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the victims and their families.

“A lone gunman, armed with weapons of war and hate-filled soul, shot and killed 10 innocent people in cold blood at a grocery store on Saturday afternoon,” the president told the crowd outside of the Capitol.

All 10 victims who died in the attack are Black, law enforcement officials said. One of the wounded victims was Black while the two others were white, they said.

Biden said the Justice Department has stated publicly that it’s investigating the matter as “a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.”

“As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America,” Biden said. “Hearts are heavy once against but our resolve must never, ever waver.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Saturday that the Justice Department is “committed to conducting a thorough and expeditious investigation into this shooting and to seeking justice for these innocent victims.”

An 18-year-old male suspect, Payton Gendron, is in custody, according to the Buffalo Police Department. Authorities allege Gendron shot four people in the parking lot before moving inside the store, where he proceeded to shoot nine more people.

Gendron live-streamed the attack on social media and etched the names of previous mass shooters and racial epithets on the gun he allegedly used during the attack, a source familiar with the investigation told ABC News.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia said during a new conference on Sunday afternoon that the evidence collected so far indicates “this is an absolute racist hate crime.”

Gendron is believed to have written a 180-page document which fixated on “replacement theory,” a white supremacist belief that non-whites will eventually replace white people because they have higher birth rates, authorities said.

Other racist and anti-Semitic tropes were reportedly included in the document, which the suspect appears to have posted online before the attack.

Sweden to apply to join NATO, joining Finland in ending nonaligned status

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Sweden will apply to formally join NATO, following in the footsteps of neighboring Finland, the country’s prime minister said, ending long-held positions of neutrality in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The best for our country’s security is that Sweden applies for membership in NATO and that we do it now together with Finland,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday. “And following today’s debate in Parliament, the government is ready to make a decision about an application. That will be the starting point for a process that includes ratification in all the NATO member’s parliaments and after that, the government will return to Parliament with a proposal for ratification for Swedish membership of NATO.”

“As nonaligned countries, Sweden and Finland have been contributing to stability in our region, but that changed when Russia invaded Ukraine,” she added.

President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland announced their intention to apply for NATO membership on Sunday, with the country’s Parliament expected to endorse the proposal as a formality.

Leaders in both Sweden and Finland had long been expected to apply to join the military alliance, as the war in Ukraine continues to have unintended consequences for Russia by potentially pushing two more of its neighbors into NATO.

Last week, Dmitry Peskov, Russia’s presidential press secretary, said that “another enlargement of NATO does not make our continent more stable and secure.” Peskov reiterated that stance on Monday, saying that although Russia had “no territorial disputes” with Sweden and Finland, unlike in Ukraine, Russia believed it to be a “serious issue” that they are following “very closely.”

Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde said last week that Finland’s leaders had delivered an “important message,” adding that her country “will decide after the report from the security policy consultations has been presented.”

The Scandinavian countries have long held neutral status when it comes to European conflict. Finland became a neutral country after the Second World War, while Sweden has resisted military alliances long before that.

Yet fears that Russia could do to other non-NATO countries what it has done to Ukraine has sparked a rapid shift in public opinion in both countries, one of which, Finland, shares an 830-mile land border with Russia.

Both could be on the cusp of joining NATO. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has publicly said the Nordic countries would be welcomed into the alliance, however the process could take months once their formal applications have been sent in.

Ahead of any official announcement from both countries for NATO membership, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously signed mutual security assurances in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

NATO’s expansion would be yet another unintended consequence for Russia, as they continue to be met with fierce resistance in Ukraine and a more united West than their intelligence assessments anticipated. Part of Russia’s security demands ahead of the invasion in Ukraine included reverting NATO forces to 1997 positions.

Since NATO was founded in 1949, the alliance has expanded to include 30 member countries, including three former Soviet republics, and the inclusion of Sweden and Finland would further expand the alliance’s influence in the Arctic and in the areas around Russia.

Stoltenberg said just days ahead of the invasion “if Kremlin’s aim is to have less NATO on Russia’s borders, it will only get more NATO. And if it wants to divide NATO, it will only get an even more united Alliance.”

This prediction now appears to be coming true — although Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov last month said that NATO is a “tool sharpened for confrontation” and it is “not an alliance that ensures peace and stability” when asked about Sweden and Finland. Experts say the expansion will be evidence of yet another strategic blunder on Russia’s part.

Even as public opinion has shifted, there are still those that opposes NATO membership for the Nordic countries, fearing it would lead to increased tensions with Russia.

“I’m afraid that NATO membership will increase actually the tensions in the Baltic Sea region and also will increase the tensions in Finland, especially regarding the eastern border,” Veronika Honkasalo, one of the few members of Finland’s parliament who doesn’t believe the country should join, told ABC News.

Furthermore, there are concerns that Sweden and Finland could be vulnerable to Russian attacks during the application process, though State Department spokesperson Ned Price moved to reassure both countries last week, saying: “I am certain that we will find ways to address concerns they may have regarding the period between the potential application and the final ratification.”

However, polling reported in both countries appears to show a significant majority are in favor of NATO membership.

“[Putin] has for years said Finland and Sweden joining is a red line,” Charly Salonius-Pasternak, lead researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told ABC News. “He’s managed to drive both Finland and Sweden towards NATO. So I think a massive miscalculation for him, but I think a positive thing for the rest of Europe.”

“It’s very clearly the population that changed its opinion in, say, six months, radically so,” he said, adding that the shift in public opinion had a snowball effect into Sweden, as fears grew about what could happen without the umbrella protection of NATO membership as the war in Ukraine continued.

“Now Russia has gone so far that joining NATO seems to be the only genuine solution here,” he said.

FDA commissioner says agency looking to boost baby formula supply

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the Food and Drug Administration is finalizing a plan to import more baby formula to the U.S. amid a nationwide baby formula shortage.

“We are moving on the product that was intended for other countries,” Califf told Good Morning America Monday. “And I anticipate that by the end of the day today, we’ll have a detailed announcement about how that’s possible.”

“Remember that the instructions need to be in a language that can be understood by mothers and caregivers that are putting the formula together for these infants and also, we have to be able to test the formula to make sure that the 30 required constituents are actually there in the right amounts,” he added.

Federal regulations require baby formula to include 30 nutrients in various amounts, such as vitamins A, D and E, as well as protein and fat.

The makeup of baby formula is crucial since having too many or not enough nutrients can harm a baby and lead to serious health consequences.

Califf warned parents and caregivers not to try making homemade formula as a substitute for formula.

“That’s a very bad idea, because formula, as I said, has 30 constituents and have to be there in the right amount,” the commissioner said. “Ten of which, if they’re there too much, if there’s too much of that constituent, can be dangerous. So formula for infants is a total substitute for breast milk … so we need the infant formula. It’s critical for so many families but it’s got to be the right stuff.”

The FDA is also working closely with domestic baby formula manufacturers, according to Califf.

“We’re working really closely with Abbott and I expect in a very short period of time, we’re gonna have an announcement about the path forward. I think we figured out what to do,” Califf told GMA. “Abbott’s recently indicated that in as short as two weeks, they can be in action and begin to do their part and getting supply back on the shelves. Of course, it takes longer to get in full motion.”

Last week, Abbott, one of the country’s largest baby formula producers, said that pending FDA approval, it would restart their plant in Sturgis, Michigan, a facility that makes many specialized formulas, including EleCare and Alimentum hypoallergenic baby formula products. A recall in February led to the facility’s temporary shutdown after concerns linked the plant to a bacterial outbreak.

On average, nationwide, 40% of baby formula is out of stock and states like South Dakota and Missouri have seen 50% out of stock, according to data firm Datasembly. The crisis has hit families of children with allergies and health conditions more acutely.

Amy Dolan, of Flanders, New Jersey, has a son, Connor, who needs specialized formula.

Connor has a milk protein allergy and his parents have been searching high and low for the specific baby formula he relies on.

“We’ve been actively looking all the time. Every night, we lay in bed and we’re checking what websites we can find and how much it’s gonna cost,” Dolan told GMA. “People saw it as an opportunity to buy all this formula and, you know, price gouging parents who will pay anything.”

Russia-Ukraine live updates: ‘Historic day’ as Finland, Sweden say they will apply to NATO

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

May 15, 3:45 pm
Video shows bright-burning munitions falling on Azovstal steel plant

A video released Sunday by a pro-Russian separatist commander showed a shower of bright-burning munitions cascading down on the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where a few hundred Ukrainian fighters remain holed up weeks after the city fell into the hands of Russian forces.

The video shows projectiles bursting into showers of burning matter which then explode on contact with the ground or buildings.

ABC News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the video. Reuters was able to verify the location of the aerial footage to the Azovstal steel plant, but was not able to confirm the date and time the video was taken.

The footage was posted on Telegram by Alexander Khodakovsky, a commander of the pro-Russian self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk.

“If you didn’t know what it is and for what purpose — you could say that it’s even beautiful,” Khodakovsky said in a message that accompanied the video.

It was not immediately clear what type of munitions were seen in the video.

Khodakovsky could not be reached for comment.

Ukrainian military officials said there was no letup on Sunday in Russia’s bombardment of the steel works plant.

May 15, 3:09 pm
Sweden’s ruling party supports a NATO bid

Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic party announced Sunday that its board has decided to support the historically neutral country’s bid to join NATO.

The party said it will now work to advance Sweden’s application for membership to NATO.

If the application is approved by NATO, the Social Democratic Party said it will express unilateral reservations against the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish territory.

“We Social Democrats believe that the best for Sweden’s and the Swedish people’s security is that we join NATO,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said at a news conference Sunday. “This is a decision that was taken after careful deliberations. A position in favor of NATO means that we are prepared to abandon a security policy that Sweden has had in different forms over 200 years.”

Andersson added, “For us Social Democrats it is clear that the military non-alignment has served Sweden well, but our conclusion is that it won’t serve us as well in the future.”

Leaders of Finland, another historically neutral Nordic country, also announced on Sunday that it will also apply for NATO membership.

-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou

Buffalo gunman had plans to continue his killing rampage: Commissioner

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Payton Gendron, the alleged gunman who shot fatally 10 people in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, would have continued his rampage if he had not been stopped, Buffalo Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told ABC News.

“We have uncovered information that if he escaped the [Tops] supermarket, he had plans to continue his attack,” Gramaglia said. “He had plans to continue driving down Jefferson Ave to shoot more black people … possibly go to another store [or] location.”

Gendron, wearing military fatigues, body armor and a tactical helmet, allegedly shot four people in the parking lot of a Tops supermarket around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, three fatally. He proceeded inside the store where he was confronted by a retired Buffalo police officer working security, police said. The gunman then proceeded to shoot nine more people inside the store, police said.

All 10 victims who died in the attack were Black — six females and four males ranging in age from 32 to 86, law enforcement officials said. One of the wounded victims was Black while the two others were white, officials said.

The three survivors were hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, authorities said. Four of the shooting victims were store employees; the others were customers.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he suffered ‘minor stroke,’ is hospitalized

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was hospitalized this weekend after suffering a minor stroke, he said Sunday.

He was admitted to George Washington University Hospital after experiencing lightheadedness and acute neck pain while delivering a speech in western Maryland, the senator said in a statement.

An angiogram Sunday indicated he had “experienced a minor stroke in the form of a small venous tear at the back of my head,” Van Hollen said, adding that he has been told there are no “long-term effects or damage as a result of this incident.”

His doctors advised him to remain under observation for a few days, out of an abundance of caution, the senator said.

“I look forward to returning to work in the Senate later this week and thank the medical team for their excellent care,” he added.

“This weekend, after feeling lightheaded while delivering a speech, I sought medical attention at the recommendation of the Attending Physician,” he tweeted when sharing his statement. “I’m feeling much better but will follow doctors’ orders and curtail my schedule for the next few days.”

The news comes after Pennsylvania Lt. Gov John Fetterman, the leading Democratic candidate in the Pennsylvania Senate race, said he also suffered a stroke, on Friday.

“I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long,” Fetterman said in a statement released Sunday afternoon.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

One killed, 5 wounded in shooting at California church: Authorities

May 16, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LAGUNA WOODS, Calif.) — One person was killed and five were wounded in a shooting at a church in Laguna Woods, California, on Sunday, authorities said.

Four were critically hurt and one person suffered minor injuries from the shooting inside the Geneva Presbyterian Church, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office tweeted. All victims are adults and range in age from 66 to 92 years old, the sheriff’s office said.

A group of churchgoers detained the suspect and hogtied his legs with an extension cord and confiscated two handguns from him before more people could be shot, according to Jeff Hallock, Undersheriff at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“That group of churchgoers displayed what we believed exceptional heroism, heroism and bravery in interfering or intervening to stop the suspect,” Hallock said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said later Sunday that it had arrested a suspect who was described as an Asian man in his 60s. The suspect will not be identified until after he is booked into the Orange County Jail, the department said.

The man was taken into custody and two firearms were recovered at the scene, authorities said.

Investigators are working to determine where the suspect lives and whether he has any connections to the church or its congregants; they are unsure if he is from the area.

“The Presbytery of Los Ranchos is deeply saddened by a fatal shooting that occurred at a lunch reception honoring a former pastor of the Taiwanese congregation that nests at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods,” Tom Cramer, Presbytery head of staff, said in a statement Sunday. “Please keep the leadership of the Taiwanese congregation and Geneva in your prayers as they care for those traumatized by this shooting.”

The suspect opened fire at a lunch banquet at the church following a morning service, Hallock said.

The shooting was reported at about 1:26 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Hallock said a motive and whether the suspect had an intended target is unknown.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are en route to assist local officials.

There were 30-40 people inside the church when the shooting began, officials said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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