2 arrested after claiming Texas church shooting that left 26 dead was staged

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (CBS/AP) — Two people have been arrested after appearing at the Texas church where more than two-dozen worshipers were gunned down and claiming the attack was staged.

The pastor of First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, southeast of San Antonio, told the San Antonio Express-News that the pair appeared Monday and claimed the shooting was fabricated by the U.S. government.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter died in the Nov. 5, 2017, shooting, says they claimed his daughter never existed and demanded to see her birth certificate.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday declined to confirm the encounter or identify the people arrested.

Authorities say the church attacker — 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelly — died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two residents when he was leaving the church. Officials said the shooter called his father before killing himself and told him he had been shot and didn’t think he was going to make it.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott described the incident as the worst mass shooting in his state’s history.