The Rev. Glenn Germany was preaching to his congregation outside Pittsburgh on Sunday when a man walked up to the pulpit and pointed a handgun at him.
Germany ducked and hid behind a lectern, but not before the man pulled the trigger. The gun jammed and didn’t fire — “a miracle,” the pastor told The Washington Post.
A church deacon, Clarence McCallister, tackled the gunman, identified by police as Bernard Polite, 26. McCallister and Germany struggled with him for the gun; the pastor then held Polite down until police arrived, according to a live-streamed video of the service and the criminal complaint filed against Polite.
Polite was charged with criminal attempt of homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the attempted shooting. He was jailed in Allegheny County and is represented by a public defender, according to court records.
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That evening, police were called to Polite’s North Braddock, Pa., home, where a man had been reported shot. They found Polite’s cousin dead inside the home, authorities said, identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Derek Polite, 56.
The medical examiner confirmed that Derek Polite had been shot. On Tuesday, Bernard Polite was charged with criminal homicide, said Allegheny County police spokesman Jim Madalinsky.
Polite was unknown to the church, Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock, according to the complaint. He walked in before the 1 p.m. service, went back outside and then sat down when Germany began his sermon, Germany told The Post.
The pastor didn’t think anything of it because the church had been expecting a new young man to show up that day, he said. Less than a minute into Germany’s sermon, Polite got up and attempted to fire at him, Germany said.
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“As he approached me, I didn’t have time to really think. I just reacted naturally,” Germany said. “It was just the grace of God that that trigger he pulled, it got jammed. And that was just God’s mercy.”
Share this articleShareWhile waiting for police, Germany talked with Polite, he said, asking the congregation to step away. He felt that God would want him to extend love to the man, he said.
“I felt more sad for him, and I wanted him to know that I loved him more than I was angry with him,” Germany said. “I wanted him to know that I forgave him.”
Polite allegedly told both Germany and a Pennsylvania State Police trooper that God had told him to carry out the shooting, according to the criminal complaint. He allegedly told the trooper that he had planned on shooting the pastor, waiting to be arrested and going to jail to “clear his mind.”
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“We are surely thankful that the weapon didn’t discharge,” Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said in a statement. “This could have been much worse, and a devastating circumstance.”
McCallister told “Good Morning America,” “I just jumped up and … pulled his arm down to his side and locked him up.”
“That was an act of heroism if I’ve ever seen one,” Germany said of McCallister.
Germany, who has been pastor of the small congregation for 14 years, said his wife and teenage daughter witnessed the event. On Tuesday, he said they were still healing as a family.
“For my daughter, at one point, it was hard for her to process,” he said, “but it gave her a chance to really see … the purpose of trusting God. She had the chance to see a miracle, a work of God, firsthand.”
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