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Ranchers.net

Buckwheat hasn't waded in on this one.

June 22, 2015 A Black man opened fire at a church hitting five people, four of them fatally before abducting his wife, whom he later shot to death at another location, authorities said.

Church members wept as they watched investigators examine evidence and search for clues CBS News reported.

The suspect, Anthony Bell, 25, of Baton Rouge, was captured at an apartment complex near the church. Three children abducted with the woman were all found safe.


“This is going to be one of the worst days in the history of our city,” Police Chief Jeff Leduff said after Bell was captured and his wife’s body was found at the apartment complex. Her name and those of the other victims were not immediately released.

Bell is accused of shooting five people at the church before fleeing, Sgt. Charles Armstrong said.

Police said Anthony Bell, 25, walked into the Ministry of Jesus Christ church and opened fire with a handgun during services. Four people were killed. The pastor was wounded.

Armstrong said Bell took off in a car with his wife and three children, one of whom is an infant.

Police found the two oldest children unharmed at the home of a grandmother in Baton Rouge. They found the body of Erica Bell, 24, about 2½ hours later at an apartment complex in Baton Rouge where a man had made a call to 911 to report that his wife had shot herself.

Upon arrival, police officers found Anthony Bell and the infant, who was uninjured, Armstrong said.


“We don’t believe she shot herself,” Armstrong said of Erica Bell.

Anthony Bell faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, Armstrong said.

Armstrong said that the couple had been estranged but that nothing further was known about Anthony Bell’s motive. It was not known whether Bell was the father of all three children.

All the shooting victims were related to one another, Armstrong said.
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