GONZALES, La., March 11 -- Four people are dead and several others wounded following a shooting spree Wednesday night at a church southeast of Baton Rouge, La., where about 75 people were attending a bible study class. Shawn Miller allegedly killed the mother of his estranged wife at her home and then hunted down his wife and toddler son at the church and killed them.
A wounded parishoner died today, pushing the death toll to four. The Rev. Wilbert Holmes, the assistant pastor, says today that Miller walked into the New St. John Fellowship Baptist Church and 'shot twice at the ceiling and told everyone to lie on the floor.' Witnesses say Miller shot his wife when his 2-year-old son turned and called out, 'Daddy,' and then shot the boy. Police Chief Bill Landry says he's 'never seen anything like it,' in his 24-years of law enforcement. Landry called the shooting scene 'a nightmare,' adding, 'The panic in the faces of the congregation was just unbelievable.' The 22-year-old Miller walked down the aisle shooting other churchgoers as they cowered in the pews calling out to God for help. Holmes says Miller, 'calmly re-loaded his pistol in the middle of the shooting spree and started shooting again.' Miller was captured by deputies and the state police about three hours after the attack at the church. He was shot during his capture and brought to Charity Hospital in New Orleans, where he is in critical condition and paralyzed from the waist down. Hospital spokesman Jerry Romig said the suspect was shot, 'in the face, hand, and back.' ---
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