Pence to visit shooting victims, first responders in Texas Wednesday

The vice president's visit will come as President Trump travels in Asia.

ByABC News
November 6, 2017, 3:54 PM

— -- Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence will travel to Sutherland Springs, Texas, Wednesday, the site of a mass shooting at a church Sunday that left 26 people dead and 20 more injured.

Pence tweeted Monday afternoon his plan to visit the small town about 35 miles east of San Antonio "to meet w/ families of the fallen, injured & law enforcement."

"We are with you Texas," he added.

The shooting Sunday was the fifth-deadliest mass shooting in United States history. Gunman Devin Kelley, 26, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs shortly around 11:20 a.m. local time and fired upon parishioners before fleeing the scene. Kelley was found dead in his car after the vehicle crashed.

President Donald Trump, who is currently in the midst of a 13-day long trip to Asia, called Kelley a "very deranged individual" and blamed the attack on "mental health problems."

"This isn't a guns situation," Trump said Monday. The president earlier expressed condolences to the victims and their families as he called the shooting "an act of evil" and pledged his support to the region.

A month ago, Trump and Pence each took trips to Las Vegas to meet with victims and first responders in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a country music festival that left 58 dead -- the deadliest in U.S. history.

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