Crews demolish Texas sanctuary years after mass shooting there

Crews on Monday tore down the sanctuary belonging to First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, according to reports by the Associated Press. Local reporter Kayla Padilla of National Public Radio posted a video showing a crane tearing down the roof of what she said was the sanctuary of the church. The church’s Facebook page made no mention of the demolition. 

The church was the site of a mass shooting in November 2017. A gunman killed 26 people and injured several others. The victims ranged in age from an unborn child to a 77-year-old, according to investigators. The massacre was the deadliest church shooting in American history, and the deadliest in modern state history, according to a report by Voice of America. The church opened a larger sanctuary in 2019, The Houston Chronicle reported. The original sanctuary became a memorial for the victims, with 26 chairs placed inside.

Weren’t some people upset that the memorial was torn down? Members of the church voted in 2021 to have the building torn down, but some victims’ family members filed a lawsuit to stop the demolition.  Recently, a a state district judge allowed demolition to proceed, according to the Associated Press.

Dig deeper: Listen to Anna Johansen Brown’s 2018 report for The WORLD and Everything in It as the church marked one year since the tragedy.