William Helton was sure he was about to witness the end of his pastor’s life Sunday afternoon when a man walked into church, up toward the altar and aimed a handgun.
Then came the sound of an empty click.
Mr. Helton, 60, of Wilkinsburg, had been operating the sound system at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock when the would-be gunman — now identified by police as 26-year-old Bernard Junior Polite, of Braddock — took aim at Pastor Glenn Germany.
“He jumped up and said ‘I’m going to kill you,’ and shot the gun, and it dry-fired,” Mr. Helton said.
After that click, Deacon Clarence McCallister tackled Mr. Polite to the ground.
“The mind reacts faster than the body,” said Mr. McCallister, who played a bit of football in his youth but is now a bigger fan of professional wrestling. “You either attack or flee, and I decided to attack. Simple as that. … I just wanted to keep his hands to his side — where he can’t use the gun — and get him down.”
The would-be assassin is lucky Deacon McCallister got to him first, said Mr. Helton, who noted he’s disabled.
“God forgive me. … If I would have got him, I would have broke him in two,” he said. “You don’t come into God’s house and pull a gun and start trying to shoot people. If the gun hadn’t dry-fired, the pastor would be dead today.”
The entire event was livestreamed over the internet as part of the Sunday service.
Parishioners attending the service virtually watched in horror.
Monica Owens, 35, of North Versailles, said she didn’t realize exactly what was happening at first.
“When I saw him walk up there, I just thought maybe he was just walking up,” she said. “It happened so fast. When I saw him pull the weapon out, I just thought ‘This can’t be happening right now.’ ... nobody just walks up and does something like that. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Ms. Owens said she has heard of violence erupting at places of worship, but never considered it would happen at her church.
She had planned to attend the service in person, “but wasn’t really up to it,” she said.
She said the incident will not deter her from returning to in-person services.
“There’s a little fear, but I’m not going to stop going,” Ms. Owens said. “As long as they start having more security, it would be better.
“Because we’re a small church, I would never have thought that something like this would have happened,” she said. “I’m just a little shocked and trying to tie my head around it.”
Mr. Helton said before the alleged attempted shooting, Mr. Polite first came in and sat in a pew toward the back of the church, left, returned, then left again before returning a third time to sit in the front pew.
“He comes to the front of the church and smiles at the pastor … then jumped up and drew down on him and pulled the trigger. … I thought, “Oh, my God,’ ” Mr. Helton said.
Police say Mr. Polite attempted to shoot Rev. Germany “because the spirits in his head told him to.”
Mr. Polite allegedly claimed “God told me to do it” and said he planned to shoot the pastor, then wait to be arrested “so he could go to jail and clear his mind,” according to the criminal complaint.
Police said no one at the church knew Mr. Polite.
Mr. Polite had been at home before the incident and heard the music coming from the church, which prompted him to walk over and he “found himself going inside,” according to the complaint.
Mr. Polite faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault and attempted homicide for the incident in the church..
Later Sunday evening, police discovered 56-year-old Derek Polite shot to death in a Stokes Avenue home they say he shared with Bernard Polite. The two are believed to be relatives.
As for Rev. Germany, he credited his life to divine intervention.
Initially, Rev. Germany said he was not alarmed that someone he didn’t know entered the church, which regularly attracts new members, but once Mr. Polite pulled the gun out, he acted out of instinct.
“When I saw him pull the gun out, to be honest, I didn’t have time to think,” he said. “It was just ‘Get out of the way!’ — I didn’t stand there to ask questions. I was just running for my life.”
Ultimately, Rev. Germany said he forgives Mr. Polite.
“I forgave him the minute he did what he did, believe it or not, because the minute that we had the upper hand, we decided that no harm would be done to him. We’re going to protect him more than anything” he said. “We just calmed him and held him until the police came.”
Despite the incident, Rev. Germany said he would not be bolstering security.
“We’re going to go more [toward] education, because we want a church to be a church,” he said.
First Published: May 7, 2024, 12:14 a.m.
Updated: May 7, 2024, 7:45 p.m.
