A Pennsylvania man has been arrested after he tried to shoot a pastor during a sermon that was being livestreamed Sunday, hours before a relative was found dead in a home where the suspect lived, authorities say.
Bernard Junior Polite, 26, of Braddock, had walked into Jesus Dwelling Place Church in the 400 block of Lobinger Avenue in Allegheny County, about 10 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, just after 1 p.m.
He entered the church and pointed a firearm at the pastor as he was delivering a sermon and attempted to shoot, “but the firearm failed to discharge,” Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release.
The terrifying ordeal was captured on a livestream of Sunday’s sermon that showed the moment Polite, dressed in black, wordlessly approached Glenn Germany preaching on stage and pointed what appeared to be a silver handgun at him.
The pastor ran to a nearby podium, as attendees were heard yelling in shock.
Polite then walked over a bannister in front of the stage and a deacon, Clarence McCallister, ran up behind Polite, put his arms around him and brought him to the ground.
Germany then pried the gun out of Polite’s hands and held him on the ground. State police said that the pastor and a congregation member held Polite until authorities arrived.
“He stood up and he smiled at me, and it was just a smile, but he comes to right here and then all of a sudden that’s when I see him pull a gun and all I could do was just duck and get out of the way,” Germany said to NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh.
“It clicked. You heard him shoot it. So, God jammed the gun so that the bullet didn’t come out,” Germany added.
Germany said he even spoke with Polite after the attempted shooting.
“He said, 'Look, spirits was in my mind. They got in my mind and they told me come in and shoot the pastor.' He actually apologized to me. I told him that I forgive you and want you to know that I love you,” Germany explained.
“God had his hands on the pastor,” McCallister told the station. “He wasn’t letting him go nowhere.”
Polite was charged with criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person, court records show. He was arraigned around 1:15 a.m. Monday and denied bail, and was being held at Allegheny County Jail.
Hours later, police made a grisly discover at Polite's home.
At 8:15 p.m. Sunday, the Allegheny County Police Department responded to a house in the 500 block of Stokes Avenue in North Braddock and found an adult male, identified as Derek Polite, 56, deceased.
The medical examiner said Derek Polite had been shot. A homicide investigation is underway.
An Allegheny County Police spokesperson said Bernard Polite is a relative of the shooting victim.
"At this point, no charges have been filed in connection with the homicide and it remains an active investigation," police spokesperson Jim Madalinsky said.
It's not immediately clear if Polite has legal representation. He’s due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 13.
Cindy Davis and Ben Jordan, who live next door to the Polites, told NBC News that they were surprised to hear of the attempted church shooting. Davis described both Bernard Polite and Derek Polite as quiet and nice, noting she’d see Bernard play football with people in the area.
A relative of Bernard and Derek Polite, who did not wish to be identified by name, told NBC News they were at a Cinco de Mayo party when they saw the video of the attempted church shooting on Facebook and people recognized Bernard Polite.
The relative said they drove to Derek Polite’s house to check on him, found him dead and called 911.
The family is “just in total shock,” the relative said. They “don’t have any words … because we just never would’ve imagined it.”
The relative said that Bernard had moved in with Derek several years ago and has a history of mental illness but that there have been no alarming incidents since he has been in the Pittsburgh area.
Allegheny County police also said no one has reported concerns about Bernard in recent weeks to the police department.