The Texas Department of Public Safety has released the names of the 26 victims who were brutally murdered in the Sunday morning Texas church shooting.
Among those killed were the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter, Sunday’s stand-in preacher, and a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
And as more people are coming forward to speak about their friends and family members lost in the attack, a 14-year-old who suffered six gunshot wounds said he is only alive because his grandmother used her body as a shield to protect him.
Zachary Poston survived due to the sacrifice of his grandmother, 56-year-old Peggy Lynn Warden.
Warden worked at Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church as a volunteer Sunday school teacher. She went back to work earlier this year because her husband Christopher passed away from lung cancer.
On Sunday when Devin Patrick Kelly started firing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle directly at members of her congregation, Warden used her body to shield her grandson from the raining bullets.
Zachary Poston (right) survived due to the sacrifice of his grandmother, 56-year-old Peggy Lynn Warden (left)
On Sunday when Devin Patrick Kelly started firing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle directly at members of her congregation, Warden used her body to shield her grandson from the raining bullets. She is pictured holding Zachary when he was an infant in a family photo
‘My sister -as someone who would serve and protect – put her body over his when the shooting started,’ her brother Jimmy Stevens told News 4 San Antonio.
‘And that’s when she got shot.’
And though Poston might have his grandmother to thank for being alive, he did what he could to help other people reach safety in the church that morning.
Stevens said the 14-year-old helped a little girl get underneath a pew to protect her from the shooter. And when she started to crawl out from under the pew because the shooting temporarily stopped, Steven said he kicked out his leg to keep her where she was.
At that moment Kelly started firing again, hitting Poston in the kneecap and shattering it.
When he was hit that time, Poston played dead until the gunman left and he could call for help.
Police still aren’t sure the identity of that little girl, but the family believes she survived.
Poston has already undergone at least two surgeries, and doctors believe he will need more in the future, but Stevens said the whole family feels blessed that he is still alive.
‘I see it as a blessing that my sister did not suffer. He was right there and she died very quickly,’ he said.
‘And she died serving the Lord and helping someone who needed it. And that’s what she lieved for.
So that is a victory, but she will be missed every day of my life, forever.’
Annabell Pomeroy, the 14-year-old daughter of the church pastor, was the first victim identified in Sunday’s shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday. Her mother said having fun at the pool was her favorite thing
Sunday school teacher Karla Holcolmbe and her husband Bryan also died in the rampage, their family confirmed. A local resident says their pregnant daughter-in-law was also killed
Mother-of-four, Joann Ward, (left) is said to have died in the wake of the shooting alongside Crystal Holcolmbe (right), the daughter-in-law of Karla Holcolmbe and her husband Bryan
Sisters six-year-old Brooke (left) and eight-year-old Emily Garza (pictured, right, sitting on the right, next to her sister Rihanna) were killed in the shooting according to her family. Nine-year-old Rihanna (sitting next to Emily had her glasses shot off her face but survived
Devin Patrick Kelley (pictured left, and in a mugshot from a previous crime) walked into First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, dressed in full combat gear, and began shooting
The horrific attack took place around 11.30 on Sunday morning when Devin Patrick Kelley, 26, entered the church and opened fire on parishioners, killing 26 and injuring at least 20.
Bryan Holcombe had been standing in for Frank Pomeroy, the church’s regular pastor, when Kelley opened fire. Witnesses say he was the first victim to be struck by the shooter’s gunfire.
‘Bryan was filling in,’ the witness, who did not want to be named, told DailyMail.com. ‘He was walking up to the pulpit when he was shot in the back.
‘He was an awesome Christian,’ they added.
He was killed, alongside his wife of 25 years, Sunday school teacher Karla Holcombe, as well as their eight-months-pregnant pregnant daughter-in-law Crystal, a mom-of-five, local residents reported. Three of Crystal’s five children – Emily, Megan and Greg were also killed.
‘The family is just devastated,’ the witness added.
Quick-thinking: Stephen Willeford and Johnnie Langendorff (right) have been praised as heroes after they were able to stop Texas gunman Devin Kelley’s rampage
The two embrace in an emotional hug during the vigil to remember the shooter’s 26 victims
The victims ranged in age from five to 72, with two killed outside the church, 23 killed inside, and one person who died after medical transport, officials said.
Kelley also died after he was confronted by an armed citizen and then pursued down the highway.
That citizen was Stephen Willeford, 55, who confronted Kelley was he was leaving the church wounding him, before he and Johnnie Langendorff chased him in a car as he fled.
During the 95mph car chase, Kelley lost control of his vehicle and ran off the road, before shooting himself in the head. He called his father shortly before to say he had been shot and didn’t think he was going to make it.
Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said Willeford ran out his home barefoot with his rifle and ‘engaged the suspect’.
A local resident told DailyMail.com that Willeford, who attends a different church, was first alerted to the shooting when his daughter called him saying there was a man in body armor gunning down church goers during mass.
He grabbed his gun and headed down to confront the gunman.
Willeford, a local plumber with no military experience, is however an excellent shot according to the resident, and when he came face to face with Kelley, he shot in between his body armor, hitting him in his side.
At this point Langendorff, who has a tattoo of a Texas Longhorn on his neck and who was headed to his girlfriend’s house, came across the exchange of fire.
When Kelley dropped his Ruger assault rifle and fled in an SUV, Willeford came up to Langendorff and hopped in his truck.
The pair then chased him down the highway before Kelley lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road. He then shot himself in the head, and was dead by the time Willeford and Langendorff caught up to him.