A gunman has been arrested after pulling a firearm on a Pennsylvania pastor mid-sermon in a terrifying caught-on-camera ordeal – with cops later finding one of his relatives gunned down in his home.

Bernard Polite, 26, was nabbed after trying to shoot pastor Glenn Germany at the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock on Sunday afternoon, cops said.

Man pulling gun
A suspect has been arrested after pulling a firearm on a pastor over the weekend in the middle of a sermon in a terrifying caught-on-camera ordeal.

A chilling livestream captured the harrowing scene as Germany and parishioners took cover while a perpetrator brandished a weapon amidst churchgoers, even in the presence of the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter.

Describing the moment, the pastor recounted how the gunman pulled the trigger, the ominous click reverberating through the room. Approximately 25 parishioners were gathered to listen to Germany’s sermon when the assailant abruptly advanced towards the front of the congregation.

Recalling the encounter, Germany recounted the gunman’s unsettling smile before he drew the weapon. As the situation escalated, Germany instinctively ducked, attempting to evade the danger unfolding before him.

In a remarkable display of bravery, the church’s deacon, Clarence McCallister, sprang into action, swiftly tackling the suspect as he attempted to intervene. Together with the pastor, they wrestled the firearm away from the assailant and subdued him until law enforcement arrived.

Church service gone wrong
A churchgoer managed to tackle gunman in the immediate aftermath.KDKA
“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.”

A church service in North Braddock, Pennsylvania was upended Sunday when a man pulled a gun on the pastor in the middle of his sermon.
German miraculously wasn’t shot during the ordeal after the gun jammed.KDKA
In a separate interview with WTAE, 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 to death in the home where he lived less than half a mile from the church, Allegheny County police said.

It wasn’t immediately 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.

Local reports said the suspect in the church incident lived with his 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.

It’s not immediately clear if Polite has legal representation. He’s due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 13.

“Nothing bad has ever happened in that home,” neighbor Guy Diperna told WTAE.

“There were no domestic violence, no fights, no argument that we know of that we could ever have heard.”