A Pennsylvania pastor ducked for cover during his sermon Sunday as video showed an armed man walking to the front of the church and pointing a gun at him from just steps away.
A parishioner near the front row ran up and tackled the suspect from behind and helped disarm him and hold him down before police arrived at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock. Pennsylvania State Police identified the suspect as 26-year-old Bernard Polite.
The Rev. Glenn Germany was shown ducking for cover behind the pulpit before he emerged and helped wrestle the gun away.
He later said the gun jammed, sparing his life.
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A man, identified by police as 26-year-old Bernard Polite, aims a gun at Rev. Glenn Germany during a sermon at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Polite faces attempted homicide and other charges after the gun did not fire and churchgoers subdued and disarmed him. (Glenn Germany / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)
“God, by a miracle, stopped the shooting,” he said in a second video that he posted to Facebook.
Germany told Fox News Digital Monday he was grateful to be alive and in “excellent” spirits.
He had never seen the man before he walked into the church and pointed the handgun at him point-blank Sunday.
Rev. Glenn Germany, of the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, delivers a sermon on Sunday May 5, 2024. (Glenn Germany / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)
“[He was] just a young man dealing with mental illness – seen an open door and decided to enter,” the pastor said.
He said he had been told police found another man’s body in a home on Stokes Avenue, and that the suspect, who appears to be mentally ill, told him he was “possessed by spirits.”
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A congregant who had been seated near the front of the church rushed the gunman and helped wrestle the gun out of his hand. No one was injured. (Glenn Germany / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)
Court records show Polite faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He was being held without bail at the Allegheny County Jail.
Polite is due back in court on May 13.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Polite allegedly told police “God told me to do it,” that he intended to kill the pastor and that he wanted to go to jail so he could “clear his mind.”
Rev. Glenn Germany said the assailant appeared to be mentally ill and claimed to have been “possessed by spirits.” (Glenn Germany / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)
The Allegheny County Police Department said separately that it has also launched a homicide investigation into the Stokes Avenue death.
Public records show Polite has relatives on the street.
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Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.
Fox News’ Mitch Picasso contributed to this report.
