Year after gunman tries to shoot him during sermon, pastor says he needs help keeping church safe
One year ago, on May 5, 2024, a gunman was seen on camera walking up to North Braddock Pastor Glenn Germany during his sermon, pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger. The gun jammed.
Deacon Clarence McCallister, who was running the livestream, didn't hesitate. He ran up to the suspect and tackled him.
>>> Man arrested after trying to shoot pastor during sermon in North Braddock, state police say
The heart-stopping and chilling video that's been seen across the country still haunts Pastor Germany.
'Every day I'm learning something that I didn't feel before, and it's still a healing process,' Germany said.
Police arrested Bernard Polite. Polite is accused of killing his cousin, Derek Polite, about three hours before he walked into Jesus' Dwelling Place Church and tried to shoot the pastor.
Pastor Germany said Polite told him the voices in his head told him to do it.
The pastor visited Polite in jail several times to see if he could help him in any way. Germany said the last time he saw Polite was in November, when the alleged gunman had a disturbing message for him.
'He let me know that he still wanted to kill me and wished he had killed me,' Germany said.
Channel 11's Antoinette DelBel asked, 'How does that make you feel?'
'Uncomfortable, to be honest with you,' Germany said.
Since then, Germany has been taking action to make parishioners at Jesus' Dwelling Place feel secure.
The pastor is working on adding safety measures, including new heavy-duty doors, installing cameras outside and inside, and more lighting, but the church needs help.
'It's a lot of work,' Germany said. 'We're a small church that's still doing what we can do in the community, but we're struggling.'
The church was approved for a state grant, but they need to raise $24,000 to get it. Germany said they're about halfway there and hoped a GoFundMe page would have gained more attention.
'We wished that we had more donations coming in, but we don't,' he said. 'That GoFundMe, we didn't get much support for that at all.'
Even though it's been a year since his brush with death, the pastor said the gravity of it recently hit him all over again. He added that he's going to continue to work toward healing.
'I got a family, and we have to be protected as well and that thing wears on me more than anything,' Germany said.
Polite is waiting to be sentenced. The pastor is waiting to find out Polite's next court date is, and plans on being there.
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