The Vestavia Hills church shooting occurred on June 16, 2022, at 6:22 p.m. local time in
Vestavia Hills, a suburb of
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
. A man entered the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and opened fire during a
potluck
A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared.
Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, c ...
meeting, which the church had previously advertised. Two people were killed at the scene, a third died later in hospital, and the suspect is subsequently in custody.
The suspect was a 70-year-old Birmingham man named Robert Findlay Smith (born December 23, 1951),
a gun dealer. On May 2, 2023, Smith pled guilty in the shooting and was sentenced to life without parole.
Shooting
The shooter opened fire, killing three, and was stopped when a 79-year-old male, later identified as retired investigator James W. Musgrove Jr., whacked him over the head with a folding chair, took his gun, and pistol whipped him, thus subduing the assailant. Musgrove was later awarded the
Carnegie medal for his actions.
Victims
* Sarah Yeager, 75
* Walter Rainey, 84
* Jane Pounds, 84, initially reported injured, died at a local hospital. Her family requested that her name be withheld, but it was made public by the press.
Reactions
Following the shooting, Alabama governor
Kay Ivey
Kay Ellen Ivey ( ; born October 15, 1944) is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama, serving since 2017. A Republican since 2002, Ivey was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor o ...
issued a statement saying that the shooting is "shocking and tragic," adding that "this should never happen — in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere."
During a Sunday morning service on June 19, 2022, the church gathered to honor the members who were shot and killed during the shooting.
See also
*
Gun violence in the United States
Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States.
In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely ...
*
List of mass shootings in the United States in 2022
References
{{Reflist
June 2022 crimes in the United States
Church shootings in the United States
Deaths by firearm in Alabama
2022 in Alabama
Murder in Alabama
2022 in Christianity
Capital murder cases
2022 murders in the United States
Mass murder in 2022
Mass murder in the United States in the 2020s
Attacks on buildings and structures in 2022
2022 mass shootings in the United States
Mass shootings in Alabama