Police in Pennsylvania said that a man tried to murder a pastor at a church in North Braddock on Sunday while he delivered a sermon to his congregation.
Police said that 26-year-old Bernard Junior Polite entered the Jesus Dwelling Place Church a little after 1 p.m. EST and “attempted to shoot the pastor as he was giving a sermon.”
“Polite pointed a firearm at the pastor, attempted to shoot, but the firearm failed to discharge,” the statement said. “A congregation member took immediate action by grabbing onto Polite. The member and the pastor were able to subdue and disarm Polite. Polite was held until Troopers arrived.”
The statement said that charges were filed for attempted homicide.
WATCH:
Pennsylvania State Police say that a man tried to shoot a pastor in North Braddock while he was delivering a sermon on Sunday.
Police say the man tried to fire the gun but it did not go off.
He was later tackled and arrested. pic.twitter.com/8lM3vaDArl
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Pastor Glenn Germany, who was the target of the attempted shooting, said: “I’m thankful to God that I’m still here, because he definitely pulled the trigger.”
He told local media that he had never seen the suspect before that day but noticed that he had been coming in and out of the building and made direct eye contact with him.
“I started to begin to preach and all of a sudden, from my left-hand side, I saw him move from the back to the front of the church, and he set up in the front corner of the church and smiled at me,” Germany said. “All of a sudden, I just saw a gun pointing right at me. And at that point, all I could try to do is run for cover.”
He praised the member of his congregation who ran in and tackled the suspect.
“He could have lost his life in that struggle,” Germany said. “But he sacrificed himself for everyone, and he’s the hero.”