A gunman shot two people this morning and took one of his victims hostage in a church, police said. The man shot the people about 8:45 a.m., said Julie Wolinksi, a police spokeswoman in Melbourne Beach. He then barricaded himself inside the Episcopal church, Saint Sebastian-By-The-Sea. No one else was believed to be inside the church, she said. But reporters at the scene heard a man and a woman screaming, leading them to believe two people were being held hostage. The gunman's identity was not immediately known, officials said. The other shooting victim was taken to the Holmes Regional Medical Center, Ms. Wolinski said. The victim, Diane Conarroe, was in surgery with two gunshot wounds to the abdomen, said hospital spokeswoman Valerie Davis. The 43-year-old woman was expected to be in surgery for most of the afternoon, Davis said. Police surrounded the church as a hostage negotiator from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office tried to talk the gunman into releasing the hostage and surrendering, she said. Homes and schools were being evacuated in this town of 2,600 people, 25 miles south of Cape Canaveral, authorities said.
