Pennsylvania Pastor Escapes Shooting Attempt As Gunman’s Firearm Jams

What could have been a deadly Sunday service at a Pennsylvania church, turned into a rather frightening one.

In the middle of a sermon on Sunday (May 5) at Jesus’ Dwelling Place church in North Braddock, a gunman posing as an attendee walked up to the pulpit and aimed a gun directly at a pastor named Glenn Germany — which was all caught on the church’s livestream.

Fortunately for Germany, the firearm jammed, giving a congregant and a minister time to bravely tackle the 26-year-old man named Bernard Polite and displace the gun. With all glory to a higher power, no one at the church was hurt, CBS News reported.

“I’m thankful to God that I’m still here, because he definitely pulled the trigger,” Germany stated to the news outlet. “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.”

“All of a sudden, I just saw a gun pointing right at me,” he continued. “And at that point, all I could try to do is run for cover.”

Germany also stated that he had never seen Polite before the attempted shooting on Sunday, but it was clear to him that Polite was “dealing with some form of mental illness.”

“This guy was just dealing with spirits, he said, and he came in and wanted to shoot somebody,” he went on to CBS. The pastor also recalled Polite saying that he was hearing voices during his restraint and even apologized to him. Germany noted that he had forgiven him.

According to a police reports, Polite stated to police that “God told him to do it” and that he was hoping to go to jail to clear his mind. The assailant now faces multiple charges, including attempted homicide. He is reportedly being detained in a Pittsburgh jail.

In addition to the already bizarre story, Polite is now being questioned in a possible connection to the shooting death of a man found in the North Braddock home that he resides in.

Per WTAE, officers were called to a home around 8 PM, where they found a man identified as 56-year-old Derek Polite. It’s unclear if he was responsible for the shooting or if he has any connection to the crime.