By People Staff
At least 26 people were killed during a Sunday morning service at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when a gunman walked into the sanctuary and opened fire.
Among the dead are the church pastor’s 14-year-old daughter, a mother of young children and a 16-year-old aspiring NICU nurse.
The rampage comes just weeks after another gunman fired down onto a country music concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 and injuring hundreds.
The Texas shooter, identified as 26-year-old Devin Kelley, a disgraced former Air Force member, was dressed in all-black tactical gear with a ballistics vest when he began firing from outside of the church around 11:30 a.m. local time.
The shooter was killed Sunday in a neighboring county after fleeing the church, though it remains unclear if it was by law enforcement or by suicide.
Authorities on Monday said the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute, and that the shooter had sent threatening text messages to his mother-in-law, who attended the church. There is no terrorism investigation in connection with the shooting.
Here are names, photos and tributes to the shooting’s fatal victims. This list will be updated as more information is available.
Annabelle Renee Pomeroy
Annabelle’s father, Frank Pomeroy, is the pastor at First Baptist Church but he and his wife were traveling on Sunday — though his 14-year-old daughter still attended service, where she was killed in the shooting.
Speaking to ABC News, Frank described Annabelle as “one very beautiful, special child” and said he was in Oklahoma during the rampage. (PEOPLE has not been able to reach the family for comment.)
The teen’s mother, Sherri Pomeroy, told CBS News on Sunday that she was in North Carolina and “trying to get home as soon as I can.”
According to ABC, Annabelle was her father’s youngest daughter.
“We don’t want to overshadow the other lives lost yesterday,” Sherri told reporters on Monday. “We lost more than Belle yesterday, and one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family that she loved fiercely and vice versa.”
Our building is probably beyond repair and the few of us that are left behind, lost tragically,” she continued. “As senseless as this tragedy was, our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family yesterday. Please don’t forget Sutherland Springs.”
Haley Krueger
A grieving Charlene Uhl tells PEOPLE her 16-year-old daughter, Haley Krueger, was among the worshippers killed during Sunday’s mass shooting. (A family friend also said Haley was killed in a GoFundMe set up to support the family.)
Haley regularly attended services at the church where she died and even arrived early Sunday morning to help prepare breakfast for the parishioners, her mom says.
“She just loved life and loved everybody she met,” Uhl says. “She loved her church. She was always hyper and ready for anything. She wanted to go to school and be a nurse in the NICU. She loved babies. She had two nephews and adored both of them.”
Haley’s death comes just two years after her father died suddenly, Uhl says. “I already miss her so much.”
Joann Ward and Daughters Brooke Ward and Emily Garza
Joann Ward “was a very loving person,” Gary Zwicke, the uncle of her husband, Chris Ward, tells PEOPLE.
Two of Joann’s children were also killed in the attack: Brooke Ward, 5, and 7-year-old Emily Garza. Joann’s 5-year-old stepson, Ryland Ward, is still in the hospital in dire condition, the family tells PEOPLE.
Joann “cared about people, especially the disabled and people that needed help,” Zwicke says. “She would help disabled people in her community and would help wherever she could.”
According to Zwicke, Joann’s family was devoted to their Christian faith and attended church every Sunday. Chris works nights and was home sleeping at the time of the shooting, Zwicke says.
As the attack unfolded, Joann was “shielding [her] babies from the shooter,” her friend Vonda Greek Smith wrote on Facebook.
Zwicke tells PEOPLE that all of Joann Ward’s children were “good kids.” The Wards were regular churchgoers and they “pretty much went there every Sunday,” Zwicke says.
The girls’ older sister, 9, had her glasses shot off her head but survived, the family says.
The Holcombe Family
Three generations of the Holcombe family were killed in Sunday’s shooting, according to relatives and family friends.
Bryan and Karla Holcombe were killed alongside their son Marc and Marc’s daughter, Noah, as well as their daughter-in-law Crystal and her three young children, Greg, Emily and Megan Hill.
The deaths were confirmed to PEOPLE by Bryan’s father, Joe Holcombe. Multiple online fundraisers set up to support the survivors also noted the death of eight of the Holcombe family.
Joe, 86, says two of Crystal’s children survived the attack as did her husband, John, who is one of Joe’s grandsons.
Citing the strength of his faith, Joe says, “It’s not as hard on us because we know we’ll be together again and it will be for a long time this time.”
Bryan Holcombe was set to preach on Sunday at First Baptist because pastor Frank Pomeroy was traveling. Joe says Bryan filled the role of associate pastor for the congregation, though he volunteered his time and wasn’t salaried.
Robert and Shani Corrigan
Robert and Shani Corrigan were high school sweethearts. They graduated from Michigan’s Harrison High School in 1985 and started a family that included four grandchildren.
Robert was in the Air Force for 29 years, and after retiring in 2015, had worked for Well Med Medical Management.
Two of their sons currently serve in the military. A third son, Forrest Tyler Corrigan, died in 2016 at the age of 25. The funeral service was held in First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where Robert and Shani were fatally shot.
Renee Haley, director of veteran’s services for Clare County, Michigan, where Robert and Shani Corrigan grew up, tells PEOPLE that the family has “faced enough tragedy.”
She adds, “It’s very, very sad. It just seems unfair.”
Tara McNulty
Tara McNulty leaves behind two children, family friends told the Austin American-Statesman.
A GoFundMe page for funeral expenses and expenses for her children, launched by someone who worked with her, describes her as “conscientious, engaging, and always willing to do the little things.”
“She was a sweet, kind and loving woman, mother and daughter and will be greatly missed by many. Words cannot express the sadness that this tragedy has caused.”
Richard and Theresa Rodriguez
According to Regina Amador, her father, Richard Rodríguez, 64, and her stepmother, Theresa Rodríguez, 66, were “just amazing people” who married in 2006.
“They were really involved in their church,” Amador tells PEOPLE. “If they were not at church, they’d be in the back yard, working on a garden. They were amazing people.”
Since learning of her father’s death, Amador has been spending time with her extended family, to exchange stories and remembrances about the man who raised her.
“I lost my mom when I was 18,” she says. “It just sucks because I have to go through this again. I’ve just been crying and crying. I’m at my family’s now – my dad came from a big family, and had tons of sisters and brothers. We’ve just been sitting around a table, reminiscing, looking at pictures of them. I can’t believe this is happening, but it’s happening.”
Dennis and Sara Johnson
Dennis Johnson’s sister-in-law, Tawnya Roberts Spence, confirms the couple were the victims of “a thoughtless crime.”
Fred Spence, Jr., the couple’s nephew, wrote, “R.I.P. to my uncle Dennis and m;y aunt Sara,” adding, “I’m lost for words and still in shock.”
R. Scott Marshall and Karen Marshall
Holly Hannum tells PEOPLE she lost her brother and sister-in-law to Sunday’s massacre. R. Scott Marshall was 56, and his wife, Karen Marshall, was 57. The couple met more than 32 years ago while both were in the military, serving at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
“They lasted,” Hannum says. “They had kids, they travelled — they had a love that lasted over time.”
The couple was also very religious and their faith was strong. “The one thing I am holding on to is the fact that they were Christians, in the lord’s house, worshipping him,” says Hannum. “They loved each other and died together.”
Lula White
The family of Lula White, 71, has confirmed she was among those killed in Sunday’s church shooting in Texas. White was both a mother and a grandmother. Her niece, Charity Sales, took to Facebook Sunday evening to express the anguish she has been experiencing since losing her aunt.
“Aunt Lula Woicinski White will be missed greatly,” Sales wrote. “I don’t think there was ever a time I saw her where she didn’t have a smile on her face and a crazy fun tactic up her sleeve.”
Read tells PEOPLE that White was the church secretary, and was adored by her grandchildren.
