A Pennsylvania pastor said it’s a “miracle” he’s alive after an assailant drew a gun on him and pulled the trigger as he was giving a sermon Sunday about the “enemies of God.”
The Rev. Glenn Germany of the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Braddock told “Good Morning America” that the suspect, who police said lived in a home near the church where officers found a man dead from a gunshot wound, was a stranger to his congregation.
The incident was captured on a livestream of Germany’s sermon and showed a church deacon, Clarence McCallister, tackling the assailant from behind when the suspect’s silver handgun jammed.
Germany told GMA, “He pulled the trigger and a miracle of God happened that the gun got jammed.”
The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Bernard Junior Polite, was arrested at the church after McCallister and Germany disarmed him, and other members of the congregation held him until Pennsylvania State Police arrived.
Following the arrest, Allegheny County authorities said investigators went to the suspect’s home and found the body of a 56-year-old man who had been fatally shot. The victim was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Derek Polite.
Authorities have not commented on the relationship between the deceased victim and the suspect.