RICHMOND, Va. -- Three Southern Baptist missionaries were killed and another wounded Dec. 30 when a lone gunman attacked a mission hospital in Jibla, Yemen, according to the Baptist Press.
Hospital administrator William E. Koehn, business manager Kathleen A. Gariety and nurse Martha C. Myers were killed, and pharmacist Donald W. Caswell was injured. Caswell was taken to surgery and is expected to recover from his injuries.
A 35-year-old man has been taken into custody, according to news reports. No other details were available.
The four missionaries served as representatives of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB).
"We are devastated by this news," IMB spokesman Larry Cox said. "We are moving quickly to minister to family members located in Yemen, as well as in the United States."
No decision has been made about relocating other Americans connected with the hospital, Cox said.
The IMB has operated the Jibla Baptist Hospital for 35 years. More than 40,000 patients a year are treated at the facility, which is on property owned by the Yemeni government. The hospital provides free care and medicine to those who cannot afford it.
