Church shooting leaves five dead in US

A man has shot dead four people during a church service in the US before abducting his wife, whom he later shot dead at another location.

Anthony Bell, 25, was captured at flats near the church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three children abducted with the woman were all found safe.

“This is going to be one of the worst days in the history of our city,” Police Chief Jeff Leduff said after Bell was captured and his wife’s body found.

Police did not identify the dead, but church member Kenneth Green, who watched, weeping, from a nearby building as investigators examined evidence at the church, said he was related to all of the victims.

He said his mother, Deloris McGrew, 68, his cousin Darlene Mills, 47, and his aunt and uncle, Gloria, 72, and Leonard Howard, 78, were killed. He said he was also a cousin of Bell’s wife, whom he identified as 24-year-old Erica Bell.

He said Erica Bell’s mother, church pastor Claudia Brown, was wounded. She was said to be in a serious condition, police said.

Erica Bell’s body was found at the flats complex but it was unclear whether she was killed there. Authorities said neither Bell nor his wife lived at the complex.

Investigators said they did not know the motive for the shooting at The Ministry of Jesus Christ church.

“This is senseless. This is a total waste of human life,” Leduff said.

The small church shares space in an old warehouse with a guitar shop in a non-residential area of Baton Rouge. Bell is believed to have entered and opened fire with a handgun shortly before Sunday services were to end at around 10am.

After shooting five people, Bell fled with his wife and with three children, including an infant, police said. The two older children were found safely at a residence.

Hours later, police responding to a call about a shooting cordoned off the apartment complex. Officers found the woman dead and Bell holding the baby, Leduff said. Bell was arrested without incident.

At first police said the three children belonged to the couple, but later said it was unclear whether Bell was the father of all three.