Police in fatal Alabama church potluck shooting say suspect is 71 year old male

Police in Alabama said Friday they have a 71-year-old suspect in custody in connection with a church shooting the night before at a suburban Birmingham church in which two elderly people were killed and a third was wounded.

The unnamed suspect fatally shot two elderly people and wounded a third with a handgun during a potluck dinner at the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, which he regularly attended.

The suspect was subdued and held by an attendee of the event until police arrived, sparing the congregation from further violence, said police Capt. Shane Ware, according to the Associated Press.

Ware did not give a motive for the shootings and said man’s name is being withheld until prosecutors formally charge him with capital murder.

The people killed in the shooting have been identified as Walter Rainey, 84, and Sarah Yeager, 75. The third victim, an 84-year-old woman, remained hospitalized, the wire service also reports.