Alabama Church Shooting: 3 people injured, suspect arrested

At least three people have been injured, among them a woman, an infant and a pastor, in a shooting at the Oasis Church in East Selma, Alabama, US media reported. The suspect has been put in custody.

The suspect was identified by the Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson as James Minter. He has been arrested, according to local media reports. An Alabama prosecutor said that Minter has been charged with attempted murder of three people.

On Sunday morning, Minter allegedly shot his girlfriend, her newborn baby and the pastor of the church, according to The Selma Times-Journal. The paper said that he was local to Selma, which is home to some 19,000 people.

The victims were transported to a Birmingham hospital, according to Jackson. However, their condition is unknown.

The shooting appears to have stemmed from a domestic issue, authorities said. They also noted that despite the pastor being white, and Minter and the two other victims being black, race was not the reason for the violence.

The attorney said that the suspect is being held without bond at the Dallas County jail.

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Alabama is among the states in which capital punishment is legal and has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the US. The murder of a child is punishable either by the death penalty or a life sentence upon conviction. There have been cases of judges overriding a jury’s decision not to impose the death penalty in Alabama.