ABC News, by Megan Forrester, Aaron Katersky, and Andy Fies: Two women were shot and killed and two men were injured at a Kentucky church by a suspect who fled there after allegedly shooting a state trooper elsewhere, according to officials.
The suspect allegedly shot a Kentucky State Police trooper near the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington and then fled to a church, where he shot four people before three police officers shot and killed the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said at a Lexington Police Department press conference Monday.
The suspect has been identified as 47-year-old Guy House, who had active warrants for his arrest, state police said during Monday’s press conference. Officials declined to answer when ABC News asked why House had access to a gun. House was placed on the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department’s most wanted list five days ago, officials said Monday, but they did not say why.
Two of the churchgoers, both women, were killed, officials said. The other two victims, both male, were taken to the hospital for treatment and are in critical condition, police said Monday.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:36 a.m. on Sunday when a suspect “shot a trooper and then fled the scene,” Kentucky State Police said in an initial statement Sunday.
The trooper was conducting a traffic stop when the suspect – identified as House – presented a gun and fired at the trooper, officials said on Monday. There were multiple people in the car but unlike House, they did not flee the scene and are cooperating with the investigation, police said. It was unclear what prompted the traffic stop.
The suspect shot the trooper on Terminal Drive, adjacent to the Blue Grass Airport, then fled to the Richmond Road Baptist Church, according to the Lexington Police Department. He then carjacked a vehicle and drove to the church, police said Monday.
Officers were able to track House’s vehicle, leading them to the church, where the suspect shot four individuals, according to officials. The two women – 72-year-old Beverly Gumm and her daughter, 34-year-old Christina Combs – were pronounced dead at the scene, and the two men were transported to the hospital. Police initially gave Combs’ age as 32 but updated it Monday. The two men were Gumm and Combs’ husbands, with Gumm’s being the church pastor, the family said.
“The officers who responded to the church encountered a very tragic scene,” Lexington Police Department Chief Lawrence Weathers said Monday. “These officers went from securing the scene to assisting the victims.”
Gumm’s daughters, Dasey and Star Rutherford, told ABC News that House targeted their family, specifically their sister Angel Rutherford, with whom he has three children.
“He came here looking for her,” Dasey Rutherford said.
The family said House showed up to the church, opened fire and “stormed into the church from the back door and asked for Angel.”
When told Angel Rutherford wasn’t at the church, House blurted out, “Someone’s going to have to die,” Star Rutherford said.
The trooper wounded in the shooting is also receiving medical attention and is in stable condition, according to Lexington police.
Officials said Monday that the three police officers who fired at House have been placed on administrative assignment during the investigation.
A official briefed on the investigation told ABC News that the suspect had a history of mental health, drug and anger issues. He also had been involved in an unspecified domestic situation with an ex-girlfriend who then filed protection orders against him, the official said.
House was due to appear in court Monday for a domestic violence hearing, according to court records, but the nature of the proceeding was not clear.
Coroner Gary Ginn said the majority of the people at the church were related biologically or “have been friends for many years.”
“It’s a tight-knit group of people,” Ginn said during the press conference.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement Sunday that he was “heartbroken” regarding the news of the two deaths.
“Violence like this has no place in our commonwealth or country. Kentucky, let’s stand strong together and support our Lexington neighbors during this difficult time,” Beshear said in a post shared on X.
The Lexington Police Department said on Monday that the Kentucky State Police will be taking over as the primary investigating agency, and that the investigation remains ongoing.
Prophetic Link:
“The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, page 11.
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