SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — Three thousand people mourned eight members of a family who were among the more than two dozen killed in a shooting at a small Texas church Wednesday before the funeral procession headed to a cemetery near the site of the massacre.
Surrounding the multicolored caskets, mourners released light pink and blue balloons at a graveside service for the Holcombe family in rural Wilson County.
Church member and survivor John Holcombe had invited the public to attend the funeral of his pregnant wife, Crystal, 36, and three of her children from a previous marriage, Greg Hill, 13, Emily Hill, 11, and Megan Hill, 9; his parents, 60-year-old Bryan and Karla Holcombe, 58; a brother, 36-year-old Marc Holcombe, and Marc’s 18-month-old daughter, Noah.
Fire marshals had to turn hundreds more people away from the services at an events center in Floresville, Texas, about 12 miles from the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, where the Nov. 5 shooting occurred.
News reporters were barred from entering the event center and were being held in a pen with two trucks obscuring the view inside.
In an earlier Facebook post, John Holcombe thanked friends and well-wishers for their support, adding: “Please continue to pray for us.”
The gunman, Devin Patrick Kelley, began firing into First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs as Bryan Holcombe, an assistant pastor, ascended to the pulpit. Walking up and down the center aisle, Kelley killed 25 people at the church, including crying babies at point-blank range, according to witness accounts. Authorities have put the official toll at 26, because Crystal Holcombe was pregnant.