Mark Tyson
Member
Woman shoots pastor, her mother and herself at Atlanta church
By MICHAEL PEARSON
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A woman killed her mother, her pastor and then herself before services today at a Kirkwood church, police said.
The motive for the shooting at Turner Monumental AME Church was unclear. But family members and churchgoers said the suspected shooter, Shelia W. Chaney Wilson, 43, had recently been released from a mental health facility.
Police identified the dead as Wilson, the Rev. Johnny Clyde Reynolds, 62, and Jennie Mae Robinson, 67, Wilson's mother.
The shooting happened inside the church sanctuary between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. shortly before services began.
No one else was in the church when the shots were fired, police Lt. R.C. Robinson said.
"We're pretty confident that it may have been a murder-suicide," Reynolds said. "We're not out looking for suspects."
Grieving parishioners who had been headed to church joined curious onlookers in crowding the residential street around the church for hours after the shootings, trying to understand what had happened.
Nearby churches and the Atlanta Police Department sent pastors and other officials to help minister to parishioners at Turner, where Reynolds had preached for 9 years, said his daughter-in-law, Geraldine Andrews.
"This is just an isolated incident that happened with a sick person that needed help," Andrews said.
Church officials declined to speak to reporters, but neighbors said Reynolds was a vibrant community leader.
"Everything a church should be, J.C. represented," Rosa Holmes said.
She recalled, under Reynolds' leadership, the church's drives to collect clothing and food for the needy, a scholarship program, and Christmas programs for underprivileged children.
"He never got too tired to do anything," Holmes said. "He had concern for the whole community."
Staff writer Jill Young Miller contributed to this report.
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By MICHAEL PEARSON
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A woman killed her mother, her pastor and then herself before services today at a Kirkwood church, police said.
The motive for the shooting at Turner Monumental AME Church was unclear. But family members and churchgoers said the suspected shooter, Shelia W. Chaney Wilson, 43, had recently been released from a mental health facility.
Police identified the dead as Wilson, the Rev. Johnny Clyde Reynolds, 62, and Jennie Mae Robinson, 67, Wilson's mother.
The shooting happened inside the church sanctuary between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. shortly before services began.
No one else was in the church when the shots were fired, police Lt. R.C. Robinson said.
"We're pretty confident that it may have been a murder-suicide," Reynolds said. "We're not out looking for suspects."
Grieving parishioners who had been headed to church joined curious onlookers in crowding the residential street around the church for hours after the shootings, trying to understand what had happened.
Nearby churches and the Atlanta Police Department sent pastors and other officials to help minister to parishioners at Turner, where Reynolds had preached for 9 years, said his daughter-in-law, Geraldine Andrews.
"This is just an isolated incident that happened with a sick person that needed help," Andrews said.
Church officials declined to speak to reporters, but neighbors said Reynolds was a vibrant community leader.
"Everything a church should be, J.C. represented," Rosa Holmes said.
She recalled, under Reynolds' leadership, the church's drives to collect clothing and food for the needy, a scholarship program, and Christmas programs for underprivileged children.
"He never got too tired to do anything," Holmes said. "He had concern for the whole community."
Staff writer Jill Young Miller contributed to this report.
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