OfficerBlueSutherland Springs Texas – An estimated 27 people have been murdered with 30 more wounded at a church shooting in Sutherland Springs.
Within hours of the shooting, Wil Wheaton took to Twitter to call Paul Ryan a “worthless sack of sh–” for praying for Texas.
Wheaton is best known for his roles as a child-actor in Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but has since been able to brand himself as an icon in nerd pop-culture.
After the shooting, Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, tweeted out, “Reports out of Texas are devastating. The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.”
Wil Wheaton responded with a tweet of his own, saying, “The murdered victims were in a church. If prayers did anything, they’d still be alive, you worthless sack of shit.”
The tweets were sent just hours after the mass-murder.
After the ensuing backlash, Wheaton tried to clarify that he was calling out Speaker Ryan for failure to address gun violence, but made no mention of his attack on prayer.
“I’m not talking about religion or faith at all. I am talking about the speaker of the house who does nothing to address gun violence,” Wheaton responded.
He later issued an apology for the tweet, saying, “Hey, real and actual people of faith: I hear you. I apologise for insulting you, in my rage at Paul Ryan’s refusal to address gun violence,” and adding “Your faith is your business, and people like Paul Ryan exploit it while they hide behind words without deeds, and people continue to die.”
What we know now about the shooting is that the gunman who opened fire in a Texas church on Sunday is dead following a pursuit by police, according to Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office.
No official word has been released if the gunman was killed by police or he killed himself.
KGW is reporting that the police killed the suspect, but their source isn’t clear at this time.
CNN reports that 27 people were murdered, including children, after the shooter entered First Baptist Church on Sunday and opened fire at around 11:30 am. An estimated 30 additional people have been wounded.
The First Baptist Church records their services and it’s likely that the shooting was captured on video.
“My heart is broken,” Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. told CNN. “We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this, what can happen.
Do you think that Wheaton’s comments are at all appropriate? We’d like to hear what you think. Please let us know in the comments.