The original sanctuary at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs was set to be demolished Wednesday. But a temporary restraining order on Tuesday stopped it.
The church was the site of a 2017 massacre where 26 people, including an unborn child, were murdered when a gunman opened fire during service on Sunday, Nov. 5. Twenty two other people were wounded. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.
The church was turned into a memorial in the months after the shooting, and a new and larger sanctuary was opened in 2019.
Two years after the dedication of the new church, its members voted to have the site of the massacre demolished. Tuesday evening was the last day the memorial was open to the public.
The lawsuit was filed in part by Amber Holder in May. Holder said she, several survivors, and family of the victims were not given a chance to vote during the 2021 decision.
“I am hoping that just the survivors and the victims' families get their vote, get to say their piece. It should not be the church's decision,” she said.
Holder said she doesn't mind if the church is demolished, but she wants people who did not get a chance to vote to have their say.
Charlene Uhl lost her 16-year-old daughter Haley Krueger during the shooting. Tuesday, the date the restraining order was granted, would have been Haley’s birthday.
“I’m not happy that they want to demolish it. My daughter took her last breath here, and I want it to stay,” she said.
Julie Dalhberg, a representative for First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, told TPR the church had no comment after being served with the temporary restraining order on Tuesday evening.
The church did not respond to TPR's request to speak to Pastor Abner Neill.
The order, granted by 81st District Judge Jennifer Dillingham, pauses the demolition until at least July 15, when a preliminary hearing is scheduled in a state district court in Floresville.
