A Texas judge cleared the way for a church to be torn down this week, following a 2017 mass shooting that left 26 people dead.
The November 2017 massacre at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs is the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history. A new church was built about a year and a half later, but the older building had become a memorial to the victims.
In 2021, the congregation voted to raze the old church but the process faced numerous delays, including a temporary restraining order sought by some families who wanted to stop the demolition.
However, on Monday, state District Judge Russell Wilson denied a request to extend that restraining order.
The plaintiffs who are trying to stop the tear down are also seeking a new vote on whether or not to demolish the building.
“As long as the building is still there, there’s hope,” Sandy Ward, who lost three family members in the shooting, told the San Antonio Express-News.
The sites of other mass shootings have been torn down as well.
Demolition of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 were killed in 2018, began last month. Sandy Hook Elementary School was torn down following a 2012 shooting where 26 died. Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 were killed in 2022, was closed and officials plan on moving forward with demolition.
Meanwhile, the city of Orlando is in the process of buying the former Pulse nightclub and turning the site into a memorial for the victims of a 2016 shooting in which 49 were killed.
