TOKYO — President Donald Trump called Sunday’s mass shooting in Texas a “murderous attack” that embodied an “act of evil,” his first public remarks on the shooting since he awoke to them in Japan on Monday morning.
“We pull together and join hands and lock arms,” Trump said, offering words of support to Texans before continuing with his remarks to business leaders here in Japan. “And through the tears and through the sadness, we stand strong. Oh, so strong.”
News broke Sunday morning that a gunman had opened fire inside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people. The rampage is the largest mass shooting in Texas history, officials said.
The shooting happened in a “place of sacred worship,” Trump said, telling Americans to “pray to God to help the wounded and the families of the victims” while offering condolences to those who lost loved ones.
“We will never, ever leave their side,” he promised.
Photos: Two Dozen Parishioners Killed in Texas Church Shooting
Former President Barack Obama echoed Trump’s remarks, saying on Twitter: “We grieve with all the families in Sutherland Springs harmed by this act of hatred, and we’ll stand with the survivors as they recover…”
It is the second time in a month that Trump and the nation has had to contend with a mass shooting. A gunman opened fire in Las Vegas just last month in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Then, Trump labeled the tragic event an “act of pure evil.”