On Monday, a judge approved the demolition of the small Texas church in Sutherland Springs, where a gunman killed more than two dozen worshippers in 2017, marking the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history.
After the tragic event at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the church transformed the sanctuary into a memorial. In 2021, the congregation voted to demolish the building, though church leaders have not disclosed a specific demolition date.
A new church was constructed for the congregation about a year and a half after the shooting.
Earlier this month, State District Judge Jennifer Dillingham granted a temporary restraining order requested by some families who wished to halt the demolition. However, on Monday, State District Judge Russell Wilson denied an extension of that order, making the demolition more imminent.
During a hearing in Floresville, attorneys for the church argued that the church had the right to demolish the memorial. “This is a question of church governance on how the church is going to proceed with its own property,” stated church attorney Matthew Swantner.
Sam Fugate II, representing the church attendees who sought the restraining order, said the lawsuit filed in May aimed to secure a new vote on the building’s fate. The plaintiffs alleged that some church members were wrongfully removed from the roster before the vote.
After the hearing, Fugate mentioned that without the temporary restraining order, there was no barrier to prevent the church’s demolition, but they hoped “the defendants will honor the suit and not take the church down while we deal with some of these issues.”
Visitors to the memorial have found it a place of solace, but the church stated in a court filing that the structure was a “constant and very painful reminder.” The church members voted in 2021 to build an open-air memorial on the site. The Nov. 5, 2017, shooting claimed 26 lives, including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.
The church denied the lawsuit’s allegations in a court filing. Church officials and members who supported the demolition left the hearing without speaking to the media.
Sandy Ward, who lost three family members in the shooting, emerged hopeful from the hearing. “As long as the building is still there, there’s hope,” Ward told the Express-News.
The shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being chased by bystanders and crashing his car. Investigators have indicated the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, who sometimes attended services at the church but was not present on the day of the shooting.
Communities across the U.S. continue to grapple with decisions regarding the sites of mass shootings. Last month, demolition began on the building where 17 people died in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the school was demolished and replaced.
Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where mass shootings occurred, both reopened. In Colorado, Columbine High School still stands, though its library, where most victims were killed, was replaced.
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In Texas, officials closed Robb Elementary in Uvalde after the 2022 shooting there and plan to demolish the school.