Robert Findlay Smith Wiki
Robert Findlay Smith Biography
Who is Robert Findlay Smith ?
A 70-year-old gun dealer has been named a suspect in the murder of three elderly Alabama churchgoers at a Boomers Potluck party.
Robert Findlay Smith, 70, now faces capital murder charges in Thursday’s triple shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church outside Birmingham, Alabama.
Death
The dead have been named as Walter ‘Bart’ Rainey, 84, Jane Pounds, 84 and Sarah Yeager, 75, who also goes by Sharon.
Authorities believe Smith pulled out his concealed weapon about an hour after the potluck event and began shooting.
No motive has been given for the shooting. Smith claimed to have attended church in the past, but survivors said they did not recognize him from previous services.
The mugshot of him showed him with a huge black eye, believed to have been inflicted after a hero flew at him with a chair in an attempt to stop him from firing.
Smith is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail. Authorities have not revealed what the motive for the attack was.
Smith was shown bruised and beaten on his mugshot.
Capt. Shane Ware of the Vestavia Hills Police Department said Smith, who police say acted alone, was subdued shortly after brandishing the gun by another attendee, church member Jim Musgrove.
Musgrove reportedly hit the suspect with a chair and took the gun from him.
“Another attendee of the event subdued the suspect and held him until police arrived,” Ware said of the parishioner’s actions.
He called the Good Samaritan a “hero” who saved “countless lives.”
“He was extremely critical in saving lives,” Ware said of Musgrove’s actions. In my opinion, he is a hero.
Shooting
The shooting began shortly after 6 p.m. in the small town of 39,000 people, police said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies and fire departments were on the scene Thursday well into the night.
The Rev. Kelley Hudlow of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama said the congregation was inside the church when the shooting began.
There were people in the church. There has been a shooting and there are people who have been injured,” he said.
‘We are working to get more information, to take care of the people who were there…
We are praying for the healing and safety of all those who have been impacted and affected.
“We are praying for everyone involved and trying to get as much information as possible about what happened.”
Hudlow said it was “a scary thing.”
He urged the community to ‘do what this community is really good at, and that is come together, through prayers, thoughts and anything else.’
The day after the shooting, police vehicles could be seen outside Smith’s home near Cahaba Heights, less than two miles from the scene of the shooting, AL.com reports.
Online records show that Smith is a licensed firearms dealer who has a store called Original Magazines 2 out of his home.
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His license expires in 2025.
Smith does not have a violent criminal past. He was cited twice for drunk driving in 2005 and 2016.
In the 2005 case, he was also cited for possession of a firearm while intoxicated, according to the AL.com report.
While in 2008, Smith sued Samford University and the University of Alabama in Birmingham police officer Jeremy Burchfield.
Suspect
Smith accused Burchfield of wrongfully detaining him after the suspect was found on campus with a firearm and a badge.
In his lawsuit, Smith said Burchfield had no evidence to charge the suspect with posing as an officer. As a result, Smith received a $29,000 settlement.
Smith’s attorney in the case referred to the suspect’s license as a firearms dealer and said many of his clients were law enforcement officers.
The shooting, in which another attendee was injured, occurred shortly after 6 p.m. m., a gathering billed as a ‘Boomer potluck’. It was predominantly attended by elderly people.
Police said Smith was present at the church, located in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, at the time of the shooting.
About an hour after dinner, he produced a gun that he had hidden on his person.
If convicted, Smith would be one of the oldest mass shooters in US history.It comes as police revealed that Smith had previously attended processions at the house of worship.
Police said the gunman had reportedly concealed the weapon, a pistol, before opening fire at the potluck dinner.
At a news conference Friday morning, Vestavia Hills police provided some details about the shooting, including the identities of the victims, but did not release the name or motive of the jailed suspect, who is facing capital murder charges. .
The suspect reportedly called himself Mr. Smith and was sitting alone at the event when a fellow member of the congregation invited him to his table.
Smith then refused, witnesses said, drew the gun and opened fire.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Capt. Shane Ware revealed that the suspect pulled out the firearm about an hour after the assembly.
Investigation
“Our investigation, while ongoing, has revealed that an occasional church attendee I will only identify as a 71-year-old white male was at the dinner,” Ware said.
“At some point he pulled out a concealed pistol and started shooting, hitting all three victims.”
Ware said the first victim, Rainey, known to his friends as Bart, of Irondale, was shot and killed at the scene.
The second to be killed, Yeager, 75, of Pelham, died of his injuries at nearby University of Alabama Hospital, the chief said. He died shortly before 9:30 p.m.
He added that Hoover’s Pounds was shot but survived, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries on Friday afternoon.
Ware did not specify how many times or where exactly the older adults had been shot, nor did he reveal the extent of the survivors’ injuries. The three victims were all white.
Robert Findlay Smith Quick and Facts
- The suspect in the shooting deaths of three seniors at a church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills was named as Robert Findlay Smith, 70
- Smith is a local firearms dealer who was previously accused of and acquitted of impersonating a police officer
- The church, St Stephen’s Episcopal, was hosting a ‘Boomers Potluck’ at the time of the shooting, according to their website
- Cops said the gunman was attending the event at the time of the shooting
- Smith was previously described as an ‘occasional attendee of the church’
- Police said a ‘hero’ Good Samaritan who also attended the event prevented more casualties by restraining the suspect at the scene holding him until cops arrived
- Smith faces capital murder charges. He is being held without bond
Source: https://wikisoon.com/
