Johnnie Langendorff told local media he had chased the gunman after seeing “two men exchanging gunfire”.

“The shooter… fled in his vehicle, the other gentleman came and said we need to pursue him,” he said.

The attack happened at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town in Wilson County.

At least 26 people, aged from five to 72, were killed and 20 others were wounded when the gunman opened fire during Sunday service.

Speaking to local TV station Ksat.com, Mr Langendorff said: “I pulled up to the intersection where the shooting happened. I saw two men exchanging gunfire, the other being [a] citizen of the community.

“He came to my vehicle in distress with his weapon. He explained very quickly what happened. He got into the truck and I knew that it was time to go.”

He said the pair had driven at speeds of up to 95mph (153km/h) until the gunman lost control of his car and crashed. “We led police to him,” he said. “Everybody else was headed to the church.”

The suspected gunman was later found dead in his vehicle but it is unclear if he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or from injuries received when fired on. The car contained several weapons.

No details have emerged about the man who pursued the gunman along with Mr Langendorff.

Mr Langendorff’s Facebook page has been inundated with messages of support since the shooting. One says: “God bless you, Johnnie. You are a true American hero”.

Police identified the gunman only as a “young, white male” but US media named him as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26.

Kelley is reported to have been discharged from the US air force in 2014 following a court martial for assaulting his wife and child.

The motive for the killings is not yet clear.

‘Small community’

Owen Amos, BBC News, Sutherland Springs, Texas

At 1.30, Chris Speer was still sitting on his porch in Sutherland Springs, sucking his cigarette in the dark. Fourteen hours earlier he was in the same place, with his 11-month-old son, when he heard “close to 30 shots”.

“Your first instinct, you’re out in the country, you think someone is shooting, practising,” he says. “But it was too close. I knew something wasn’t right.”

He took his son inside. “If I could have got my gun, I would have,” he says. “But when you’ve got a kid in your hands, I’m not risking it. He wouldn’t let go.”

Chris didn’t know the attacker but he knew “a lot” of the victims. “We’re a small community. We band together. But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin said the attacker, dressed all in black and wearing a bulletproof vest, opened fire with a Ruger assault rifle outside the church at around 11:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and then went inside.

Mr Martin added: “We have multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect’s vehicle was located.”

Governor Greg Abbott, who attended a candlelit vigil for the victims, said it was the worst mass shooting in the history of Texas.

“This will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain,” he said at a news conference on Sunday.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, on a tour of Asia, said guns were not to blame for the shooting.

“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, but this isn’t a guns situation,” he said.

The First Baptist Church’s pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told ABC News that his 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was among those killed.

Mr Pomeroy, who was in Oklahoma at the time of the attack, described her as “one very beautiful, special child” in a phone call to the television outlet.

At least 10 victims, including four children, were being treated at the University Health System in nearby San Antonio, the hospital said in a tweet.

Sheriff Joe Tackitt said authorities could not confirm the names of any victims yet as they continued to work through the crime scene.

Officials said 23 people were found dead inside the church while two people were fatally shot outside. Another died in hospital, authorities said.

Sutherland Springs, which has a population of about 400, lies about 30 miles (50km) south-east of the city of San Antonio.

The shooting comes just a month after a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

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Source: BBC

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Alex Mould, making his first appearance at the ongoing Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Ghana’s participation at the 2014 world cup told the commission on Tuesday that his organisation made payments for accommodation and transportation to the GFA for some of their friendly games.

[contextly_sidebar id=”faMaXtZnEpCkRBxtalSEqH3cFIK5CCln”]This appears to be in contrast with the known practice where all the GFA’s expenses for friendlies are paid for by match agents.

Below are highlights of the interaction between Alex Mould of GNPC and Justice Dzamefe, chairman of the commission;

Dzamefe: Some of these friendly matches are arranged by FIFA agents and they pay the FA for those matches. FA incurs no cost. Agents organize the matches, pay for their flight and accommodation for those friendly matches.  But for your rendition you also pay for friendly matches.

Alex:  Yes we do.

Dzamefe: so are you aware agents pay for those matches?

Alex:  No, I am not aware.

Dzamefe: Are you surprised hearing this today?

Alex:  I will be surprised that they will be receiving money for matches that we are paying for. And I think that there should be full disclosure. I don’t think we’d have a  problem with it if they were receiving monies because  if they gave us an explanation that they were using it for other events and it’s part of their revenue, I think it’s a justification that we would be able to accept. But it think there should be full disclosure.

Dzamefe: If you go into your contract, there is a clause like that, confidentiality. I’m surprised hearing that they’ve never disclosed this to you that the agents pay for these friendly matches.

Moses Foh Amoaning: Lordship, if we can add a caveat.  It’s not all the matches. The claim [from the FA] is that the Montenegro and the other matches against Korea, and the other one against Holland, the FA funded itself. We’re yet to investigate that because [the FA] have not come over. And if the state funds were committed for those things, then we are concerned about these same things, that’s why we are probing in respect of these matters.

Death trap

Aziz Haruna Futa, President of Nationwide Supporters Union (NSU) has described the Accra Sports Stadium as a death trap following the recent dilapidated nature of the national stadium.

Haruna Futa, who appeared before the commission also said the stadium is fast collapsing and will soon bring a national calamity, if care is not taken.

“My Lord just go round the Accra Sports Stadium now, and you will see how weak the stadium has become.”

The commission continues sitting on Wednesday.

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By: Gary Al-Smith and Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin

Follow @garyalsmith

The post DAY 21: Mould shocked that Ghana “paid double” for Stars friendlies; Futa appears appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.