Crews begin demolishing Texas church where gunman killed more than two dozen in 2017

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (AP) — Crews on Monday began to tear down a Texas church where a gunman killed more than two dozen worshippers in 2017, using heavy machinery to raze the small building even after some families sought to preserve the scene of the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history.

A judge cleared the way last month for the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs to tear down the sanctuary where the attack took place, which until now had been kept as a memorial. That ruling came after some families had earlier this year filed a lawsuit hoping to get a new vote on the building’s fate after church members voted in 2021 to tear it down.

Authorities put the number of dead in the Nov. 5, 2017, shooting at 26 people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

John Riley, an 86-year-old member of the church, watched with sadness and disappointment as the long arm of a yellow excavator swung a heavy claw into the building over and over.

“The devil got his way,” Riley said, “I would not be the man I am without that church.”

He said he would pray for God to “punish the ones” who put the demolition in motion.

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