PELHAM, N.H. — A gunman opened fire at a wedding ceremony inside a New Hampshire church Saturday shooting two people before guests tackled the shooter and held him until police arrived, authorities said.
Pelham’s Police Chief Joseph Roark said no fatalities were reported in the shooting at New England Pentecostal church.
One of the people who helped subdue the suspect, who arrived and began shooting after the wedding began, suffered minor injuries, Roark said.
A man and a woman were shot, police said. It’s unknown if they were part of the ceremony or guests at the wedding.
“This does not seem to be a random event, at least at this point,” Roark said during a news conference Saturday afternoon outside the police department.
Three people were taken to hospitals but no update on their conditions was provided. Roark said he was not aware of any injuries to the shooter.
Roark did not offer a motive for the shooting. No charges have been announced.
Roark said the New Hampshire attorney general’s office would provide more details of the shooting later Saturday.
Police were called to the church shortly after 10 a.m. in Pelham, a town of about 13,000 on the border of Massachusetts.
Roark said the church had just received active shooter training from his department within the last year. He didn’t know if people who subdued the shooter were trained the same way but “I think that is a standard that is being taught now to address the threat.”
Pelham is nestled between Concord, New Hampshire’s capital, and Boston.
A funeral was scheduled to be held at the church after the wedding for 60-year-old Luis Garcia. Garcia had been a minister at the church. He was killed earlier this month and a man has been charged in his murder and is jailed.
