The suspect fired shots in three different places last night around 12:30: His mother's home, her neighbor's home, and the church down the street.
Sister Isabel Lopez, O.L.P.H. Teacher: "Someone rang the bell several times, so I didn't open the door. I was afraid, and after 5 minutes or so, I heard the police."
Sister Isabel Lopez has been at Our Lady of Perpetual Help for 45 years. No one ever bangs on the door, or rings the doorbell that late at night.
Police say it was shooting suspect, 40-year-old Christopher Machado.
Janet Stoll-Lee, Clovis Police: "No one answered the door. Thankfully... He went into the sanctuary and then fired a shot toward the altar where the crucifix was."
The sisters at Our Lady of Perpetual Help believe Machado must have been troubled.
He was shot and killed by Clovis Police a short time later, about a block away from the O.L.P.H. convent, after he shot his own mother, 73-year-old Edith Machado, at her home.
He then turned the gun on her neighbor right across the street, 60-year-old Vernon Lindsey.
Jessi Galiher, Neighbor: "I was laying in bed and 4 gunshots go off. A car speeds off."
Devi Galiher, Neighbor: "We know those neighbors, in passing, we talk to them, watched them build their fences and plant their flowers and chase their dogs."
Investigators have not yet confirmed whether there was an exchange of gunfire between Machado and police, other than the shots that killed him.
Detectives don't believe anyone else was involved in the prior shootings.
Devi Galiher: "We were so afraid it was someone we knew, and it is. It's very sad. It's very sad."
The investigation is expected to continue through the weekend.
TXT 24
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