Pastor tackles man accused of firing gun during church service in Virginia, he says
Worshipers at a Virginia church helped to subdue a 24-year-old congregant who fired a gun at a staff member during services, police said.
Emergency dispatchers received a call reporting gunshots at about 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, the Suffolk Police Department said in a news release.
“A person known to Divine Church of Deliverance and Transformation had entered the building during service hours seeking out a staff member who was on the premises,” investigators said in the release.
The man fired one shot at a staff member, but no one was injured, police said.
Chief Apostle Brian Outlaw, the church’s bishop and founder, told WTKR he tackled the gunman during the service.
“I went into active mode and grabbed the gun and wrestled the gun from him to make sure it wouldn’t go off in the congregation, but it went off in the pulpit,” Outlaw told the outlet.
According to police, the man was held down by church congregants until officers arrived and took him into custody.
Tremonte Smith of Chesapeake is charged with second-degree attempted murder, use of a firearm and discharging a firearm, police said.
Now, the church congregation is focused on healing, Outlaw said in a Dec. 8 statement on Facebook.
“Our church family is committed to praying for the individual, his family, and all affected by this incident,” he said in the post. “We ask that you join us in lifting them up in prayer for peace, strength, and guidance.”
Suffolk is about a 19-mile drive southwest from Norfolk.
