God’s his protector
Pastor survives on-camera shoot bid
A gunman pulled a firearm on a Pennsylvania pastor in mid-sermon in a terrifying caught-oncamera ordeal, and cops later found one of the man’s relatives shot dead in his home.
Bernard Polite, 26, was nabbed after trying to shoot pastor Glenn Germany at the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock outside Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, cops allege.
A horrifying livestream shows Germany ducking for cover as the gunman brandished the weapon in front of churchgoers, including the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter.
“He pulled the gun; it clicked,” the pastor told WPXI-TV. “You heard him shoot it. God jammed the gun so the bullet didn’t come out.”
Roughly 25 parishioners were listening to Germany’s sermon when the gunman suddenly started walking towards the front pew.
‘All I could do is duck’
“He stood up and he smiled at me. And it was just a smile,” Germany said.
“He comes to right here and then all of a sudden, that’s when I see him pull the gun and all I could do is duck and try to get out of the way.”
The church’s deacon, Clarence McCallister, is seen in the video, leaping across and tackling the gunman. He and the pastor wrestled the gun away from the suspect and pinned him down until cops arrived.
“God had his hands on the pastor,” McCallister said. “He wasn’t letting him go nowhere.”
Germany said the suspect later revealed to him in custody that he’d seen “spirits” in his mind telling him to open fire.
“He said, ‘The spirits were in my mind. They got in my mind and told me to shoot the pastor,’ ” Germany recalled.
“He actually apologized to me. I told him that ‘I forgive you and want you to know I love you,’ but yes, I definitely forgave him.”
In a separate interview with WTAE-TV, the pastor recalled the gunman telling him, “‘You ducked a taco today.’
“That’s what he told me, and I guess that’s slang for ‘You ducked a bullet.’ ”
Polite is facing a slew of charges, including aggravated assault and attempted homicide.
Hours after arresting Polite, police made the grisly discovery of the body of a 56-year-old man shot dead in the home where he lived less than half a mile from the church, Allegheny County police said. It wasn’t clear when the victim, identified as Derek Polite, was gunned down.
The victim is a relative of Polite, a police spokesperson told NBC News, without elaborating on the exact relationship, but local news reports said Polite lived with an uncle.
“At this point, no charges have been filed in connection with the homicide and it remains an active investigation,” the police spokesperson, Jim Madalinsky, told NBC News.
“Nothing bad has ever happened in that home,” neighbor Guy Diperna told WTAE.