Current:Home > FinanceMan points gun at Pennsylvania pastor during church, police later find body at man's home-LoTradeCoin
Man points gun at Pennsylvania pastor during church, police later find body at man's home
View Date:2024-12-23 22:00:21
Law enforcement in Western Pennsylvania are investigating after video footage shows a 26-year-old man pulled a gun on a preacher during a live-streamed church service Sunday.
Police are also investigating after they reported that officers also found a man fatally shot to death in the suspect's home later that evening.
Just before 1:10 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police say troopers responded to Jesus' Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock after the suspect enter the church and attempted to shoot the preacher during his sermon.
North Braddock, a borough in Allegheny County, is about 9 miles southeast of downtown Pittsburgh.
'Jezebel spirit':Pastor kicked off stage at Christian conference in Missouri
Suspect identified, pastor speaks
Troopers identified the suspect as Bernard Junior Polite of North Braddock.
"Polite pointed a firearm at the pastor, attempted to shoot, but the firearm failed to discharge," police wrote in a news release.
"The gun did not go off, but he definitely pulled the trigger," the preacher, Glenn Germany, told USA TODAY Monday morning by phone. "It was a gentleman who randomly did something up the road... and the next place he came was the church. He said spirits were telling him to shoot a pastor."
Video shows suspect point gun directly at preacher in pulpit
Video obtained by USA TODAY shows a man in a black T-shirt walk directly toward Germany as he preaches, pull out a firearm and aim it directly at him.
Immediately, a church congregant runs up behind the armed suspect, tackles him and Germany and another churchgoer help disarm the suspect on the ground.
Germany identified the congregant who tackled the suspect as Clarence McCallister, a 63-year-old deacon who has attended the church for the past nine years.
"Everything is well," Germany said, his voice raspy as if he had not slept much. "At this point it's just about being grateful. "
'He smiled at me', pastor says of man who pulled gun on him
Prior to the armed suspect entering the sanctuary, Germany said he noticed the suspect in the building.
"He came in and out of the church a couple times, during praise and worship and then all the sudden he sat in the back and came to the front and he smiled at me," Germany recalled.
"He stopped in the middle of the pulpit, pulled the gun out and it just jammed," Germany recalled, before covering his face with his hands and trying to take cover.
Body later found at home near church
Later that day, at 8:15 p.m., the Allegheny County Police Department reported officers found a man fatally shot inside the home where Polite lives.
Police reported the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office identified the fatal shooting victim to USA TODAY as Derek Polite, 56, of North Braddock.
As of Monday afternoon no charges had been filed in connection to the homicide and it was not immediately known how the armed church suspect and person found dead in the home were related.
USA TODAY has reached out to state troopers and police for confirmation.
Australian church stabbing:Sydney church stabbing that left 4 including bishop hurt deemed 'terrorist' act, sparked riot
Germany was preaching about miracles before gun jammed
Germany, who has worked at the church for 14 years, said about 50 people regularly attend the Sunday morning church service,
The preacher said his brother, Gary Germany, is the church's senior pastor who usually preaches each Sunday.
Before the melee, Germany said he was preaching about understanding God's ways.
"How he is able to heal and perform miracles, and how his ways can keeping you out of harms way," Germany said.
After police arrived and took the suspect into custody, Germany said the congregation stayed at the church for several hours to support one another and try and make some sense of what took place
"We stayed until 5 p.m. trying to decipher the whole situation," Germany said. "We were all ignorant as to why he came in. No one knew him."
"I really thank God because I was informed after church the police were at his house and found (a relative) shot to death," Germany said.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
veryGood! (3766)
Related
- Police capture Tennessee murder suspect accused of faking his own death on scenic highway
- Storms leave widespread outages across Texas, cleanup continues after deadly weekend across U.S.
- SEC moving toward adopting injury reports for football games. Coaches weigh in on change
- Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone on gut-wrenching 'Under the Bridge' finale, 'terrifying' bullying
- NBA today: Injuries pile up, Mavericks are on a skid, Nuggets return to form
- Building explosion kills bank employee and injures 7 others in Youngstown, Ohio
- Your 401(k) match is billed as free money, but high-income workers may be getting an unfair share
- A nurse honored for compassion is fired after referring in speech to Gaza ‘genocide’
- New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
- Texas power outage map: Over 500,000 outages reported after series of severe storms
Ranking
- Judith Jamison, acclaimed Alvin Ailey American dancer and director, dead at 81
- Ellen DeGeneres announces farewell tour dates, including 'special taping'
- Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian Set the Record Straight on Their Feud
- Massachusetts man known as 'Bad Breath Rapist' found in California after years on the run
- Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
- At Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial, prosecutors highlight his wife’s desperate finances
- Why Teen Mom's Mackenzie McKee Says Fiancé Khesanio Hall Is 100 Percent My Person
- Molly Ringwald Says She Was Taken Advantage of as a Young Actress in Hollywood
Recommendation
-
AI could help scale humanitarian responses. But it could also have big downsides
-
SEC moving toward adopting injury reports for football games. Coaches weigh in on change
-
'A Family Affair' trailer teases Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman's steamy romance
-
Remains found at base of Flagstaff’s Mount Elden identified as man reported missing in 2017
-
Georgia's humbling loss to Mississippi leads college football winners and losers for Week 11
-
'Came out of nowhere': Storm-weary Texas bashed again; 400,000 without power
-
Murder trial ordered in Michigan killing that stoked anti-immigrant campaign rhetoric
-
'Moana 2' trailer: Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson set sail in Disney sequel