Woman fatally shot in Pa. church

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COUDERSPORT, Pa., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A man was taken into custody after he allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife during a church service in Coudersport, Pa., state police said.

Darlene Sitler, 53, a music teacher, was fatally shot in First United Presbyterian Church Sunday morning, the Wellsville (N.Y.) Daily Reporter said Monday.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Michael Knight said the alleged shooter, Gregory Eldred, 52, entered the church, fired several shots from a handgun and was then subdued by churchgoers.

"The suspect was controlled until Pennsylvania State Police arrived at the church and placed him in custody. The district attorney from Potter County [Pa.] has been on scene and they are determining charges," Knight said.

Eldred was arraigned Sunday before Magisterial District Justice Delores Weiss and sent to the county jail in lieu of bail, the newspaper said.

Police said there were no other injuries in the incident.

Knight added there were no children in the church, which he said was "half to three-fourths [filled] from what I've gathered."

Sitler was a singing teacher at the Northern Potter Children's School in nearby Ulysses, Pa., a small town near the New York-Pennsylvania state line, and was described by a former student as "always encouraging, always smiling. She was very organized, a patient, too."