Kings Langley churches are welcoming residents with open arms after the village was rocked by a fatal shooting.

Reverend Andrew Brazier, of the Kings Langley Methodist Church in Hempstead Road, has offered a “message of love and support” to the community after a man in his 30s was found fatally injured in Railway Terrace at around 12.30am yesterday (September 17).

“All our churches are a place where everybody is welcome,” he said. “We are here, we are listening. We just want to be able to help if we can.

Reverend Andrew Brazier at the Kings Langley Methodist Church said Kings Langley Methodist Reverend Andrew Brazier said churches are a "place where everybody is welcome". (Image: Ley Hill Methodist Church)

“Churches are a place where people can grieve and find company, as a trouble shared is a trouble halved.”

He will be meeting parishioners later today and urged any residents who need help to ring him even if they find the church doors closed so he can organise for support.

Kings Langley Methodist Church in Hempstead Road.Kings Langley Methodist Church in Hempstead Road. (Image: Google Maps)

Hertfordshire Police confirmed they have launched a murder investigation after a forensics tent was pitched in Railway Terrace. The road currently remains cordoned off.

Police forensics team beyond the cordon in Kings Langley.Police forensics team beyond the cordon in Kings Langley. (Image: Newsquest) A car was also found on fire in Furtherfield, Abbots Langley, less than 15 minutes after the shooting and is being linked by officers.

No arrests have been made over what is being treated as an isolated attack.

“There are other places where you might be less surprised for this to happen,” Revd Breazier added. “But these things can happen, we just don’t expect them in places like Kings Langley.

“Part of the horror is that everybody knows each other here and when things start to come out there will be lots of our congregation who will recognise it as so-and-so’s grandson.”

He said his first reaction to the news was one of disbelief: “I looked at it on the internet and I thought ‘this can’t be real’, but I suddenly realised that the source of the information was reliable and that the police were there.”