Breaking ground six months after the deadliest mass shooting in a place of worship in the history of Texas, a new church is about to be built in Sutherland Springs. A half-year following the death of over two dozen of its parishioners, the First Baptist Church’s groundbreaking ceremony took place on Saturday, May 5. Sherri Pomeroy, the wife of the pastor and mother of one of the victims, explained that the event was being held on that date to commemorate and celebrate the lives their family and friends had lived.
Authorities stated that the death toll from Devin Patrick Kelley’s shooting spree at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs was 25. However, one of the parishioners was pregnant at the time, so the official count is 26. The Pomeroys’ daughter, among those who were killed, was just 14 years old.
