The man accused of killing two women in a shooting rampage at a Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court for a domestic violence hearing on Monday, a local official said.
In a chilling account of Sunday's attack, Star Rutherford, a relative of the two slain women, said Guy House went to the Lexington-area church looking for one of her sisters but was told she wasn't there.
He declared: “Well I guess someone’s going to have to die then,” and shot her mother, 72-year-old Beverly Gumm, in the chest. Rutherford spoke to the Lexington-based broadcaster WKYT-TV. House later killed Christina Combs, who media reports said was another of Rutherford’s sisters. Two men were also critically wounded, police said Monday.
House went to Richmond Road Baptist Church seeking the mother of his children but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, citing Rachael Barnes. She identified Gumm and Combs, 34, as her mother and sister.
Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday.
Authorities have offered no motive and the investigation was ongoing.
Officers confronted House, 47, in a rear parking lot after the shootings at the close-knit rural church where many members are related or close friends. At least three Lexington police officers fired, striking House and resulting in his death, authorities said.
The trooper is in stable condition, and authorities have not identified the wounded.
Sunday's violence began when House shot the trooper during a traffic stop near Lexington's airport, police said. House then fled, forcibly stole a vehicle and opened fire at the church about an hour later, police said.
The trooper stopped House after receiving a “license plate reader alert,” police said. House had active arrest warrants and he shot the trooper as the officer interacted with people in the vehicle, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Matt Sudduth said Monday. The others in the vehicle were not involved in the shooting, did not flee and have cooperated with investigators, he said.
A woman who witnessed that shooting said it initially appeared to be a routine traffic stop, with the trooper talking through an open window.
“And as we were driving by, I heard, ‘pop, pop’ and I knew it was gunshots,” Larissa McLaughlin told WLEX-TV in Lexington.
Police credited several people for coming to the trooper's aid immediately.
“Without the assistance of several Good Samaritans, this likely could have been a very life-threatening injury,” Sudduth said. He didn't offer details on what aid was provided and said police were working to identify them.
Officers tracked the stolen vehicle to the church about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from where the trooper was shot, police said.
“Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday, “and let’s give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police.”
State Attorney General Russell Coleman said Sunday that detectives with his office were ready to support local and state agencies, saying, “Today, violence invaded the Lord’s House.”
Police stand at the front of the Richmond Road Baptist Church as other officers maintain a perimeter following a shooting at the church in Lexington, Ky., Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
