Bishop Soto Leads USCCB in Prayer for Sacramento Shooting Victims

‘Let us ask for Mary's intercession for these people,’ he said Nov. 14, leading those gathered in the Hail Mary.

(photo: Diocese of Sacramento Twitter)

BALTIMORE -- Notifying his fellow bishops of “a terrible shooting” in his diocese, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, led them in prayer for the victims during the U.S. bishops' general assembly in Baltimore on Tuesday.

“Mary, Mother of Mercy and Queen of Peace, pray for us,” he added.

The New York Times reports that at least four people were killed at several sites in and around Ranch Tehema Reserve, a small community located about 130 miles northwest of Sacramento. Several more people were wounded, including at an elementary school. No children were killed, according to police. The gunman was shot and killed by police, authorities said.

A sheriff's office official told reporters the shooter was armed with a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns, and neighbors had reported his involvement in a domestic violence incident.

A Gospel of Life Disciples + Dwellings (GOLD) resident celebrates his birthday at the St. John Paul II Dwelling in Moore, Oklahoma.

What’s Happened to Hospice?

What started as a Christian work of mercy has morphed into a $31 billion-a-year industry that’s attracting fraudsters and private-equity profit hunters. As legalized assisted suicide gains a foothold in the U.S., some pro-life advocates fear worse problems lie in store.