2 dead, suspect killed at a Lexington, Kentucky, church after suspect shot a state trooper, police say

Two women were killed in a shooting Sunday at the Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, after a man shot a state trooper near the city’s airport, officials said. Two men were also injured in the church shooting.

The shooting near the Blue Grass Airport unfolded around 11:35 a.m. ET, after the trooper pulled over a vehicle on Terminal Drive after receiving a license plate reader alert.

The suspect shot the trooper, then fled the scene before carjacking a vehicle and ending up at Richmond Road Baptist Church about 15 miles away, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said during a news conference Sunday.

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Preliminary information suggests the suspect may have had a connection to people at the church, Weathers said without elaborating. The suspect then “fired his weapon at individuals on church property,” he said.

Three responding officers shot the suspect, who was declared dead at the scene.

The shooter has been identified as Guy House, 47, by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

The victims who were killed were identified as Christina Combs, 34, and Beverly Gumm, 72. The Fayette County Coroner had earlier identified Combs as being 32.

The men who were injured in the shooting were transported to the hospital, Weathers said. One man is in critical condition, and the other is stable, he added. The injured trooper is also in stable condition.

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The first shooting wasn’t connected to the airport, police said, though airport officials there said it impacted a portion of Terminal Drive.

Mother, daughter and their husbands among the victims, family tells local paper

Gumm and Combs, the two women who were killed, were mother and daughter, and their two husbands, Randy Combs and church pastor Jerry Gumm, are the two men who were injured, according to three family members who spoke with the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Star Rutherford, Gumm’s daughter and Combs’ sister, told the Herald-Leader she was in the church basement cooking lunch with her mother when the suspect arrived. He was looking for one of her sisters, with whom he shared three children, according to Rutherford. When Rutherford told him she wasn’t there, he said, “Someone is gonna have to die then.”

The suspect opened fire, Rutherford said, and her mother was shot in the chest after avoiding the gunman’s first shot. Rutherford called her mother a “faithful member of the church who loved God” and said she held her as she lay dying.

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Combs was a mother of five, including a 6-month-old baby, and was planning to graduate from nursing school in the coming months, according to Rachael Barnes, another of Combs’ sisters who spoke with the Herald-Leader.

Besides saying the suspect came looking for the mother of his children, the sisters said they don’t know what motivated the attack at the church.

CNN has reached out to the sisters for further comment.

‘A very tight-knit group’

The church was described as small and its congregants are largely related to one another, Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said during the news conference.

“It’s a very tight-knit group of people at the Richmond Baptist Church,” Ginn said, adding he was able to notify family members of the deaths right away.

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The church is located in a rural area of Lexington called the Old Richmond Road Corridor. It’s not far from a horse riding school and an alpaca breeder.

Its website describes it as an “independent, landmark, sovereign grace, missionary New Testament Baptist Church.”

Officials thank law enforcement, offer prayers for victims

In a statement, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asked residents to thank law enforcement for their response to the incidents.

“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence, and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police,” he said in a post on X.

Other officials on Sunday offered their prayers for the victims.

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“Praying for the Kentucky State Trooper injured today and all parishioners injured at Richmond Road Baptist Church,” Rep. Andy Barr said on X. “I’m monitoring this situation very closely and I’m grateful for the State Police and first responders involved in responding.”

“Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House. The attack on law enforcement and people of faith in Lexington shocked the entire Commonwealth,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement.

In his own statement on X, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he was “saddened to hear about the tragic shootings.”

“We are grateful for the brave first responders. Violence like this has no place in Kentucky,” the senator said.

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This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Sarah Dewberry, Susannah Cullinane and Teele Rebane contributed to this report.

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