A man approached the pulpit on Sunday while the Rev. Glenn Germany was preaching to his congregation outside of Pittsburgh and pointed a handgun at him.
The man pulled the trigger, but not before Germany ducked and hid behind a lectern. The pastor called it “a miracle” that the gun jammed and failed to discharge.
Clarence McCallister, a church deacon, subdued the gunman, who the police identified as 26-year-old Bernard Polite. According to a live-streamed video of the service and the criminal complaint filed against Polite, McCallister and Germany grappled with him over the gun; the pastor then restrained Polite until police arrived.
In relation to the attempted shooting, Polite was charged with aggravated assault, criminal attempt at murder, and reckless endangerment of another person. According to court documents, he was imprisoned in Allegheny County and is being represented by a public defender.
That night, authorities responded to a distress call at Polite’s residence in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. Upon arrival, they discovered the lifeless body of Polite’s cousin, identified as Derek Polite, 56, by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The medical examiner confirmed that Derek Polite had suffered gunshot wounds. Subsequently, Bernard Polite was charged with criminal homicide, according to Allegheny County police spokesperson Jim Madalinsky.
Church officials at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock stated that Polite was not affiliated with their congregation. According to the complaint, he entered the church shortly before the 1 p.m. service, exited briefly, and then returned to take a seat as Pastor Germany commenced his sermon.
The pastor, unaware of any danger, attributed Polite’s presence to the anticipated arrival of a new visitor. However, within moments of the sermon’s commencement, Polite rose and attempted to fire at Pastor Germany, as recounted by the pastor himself.
“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.”
While 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.”
“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.”