Possible Mass Shooting Thwarted at Pennsylvania Church
Possible Mass Shooting Thwarted at Pennsylvania Church
A man with a shotgun was blocked from entering a Pennsylvania church filled with black worshippers because it was so packed Sunday, allegedly thwarting a possible planned mass shooting. Jeffrey Harris, a 38-year-old white man from Ambridge, had a “handwritten script” for a shooting stashed in his home, which was also booby-trapped, and may have been plotting a horrific hate crime, authorities said.
He was arrested after allegedly pointing his weapon at two women when he failed to gain entry to the Greater Dominion Church on the corner of Melrose Avenue and 4th Street during services. When police later searched Harris’s home, they found the porch smeared with a lubricant and a hole drilled in the front door that would have allowed him to fire his gun at anyone who fell while trying to reach the entrance.
Harris, who was dressed in a camo vest when nabbed, “appeared ready for a standoff,” according to the criminal complaint, which also stated that a suspected explosive device was found in the home along with a notebook detailing active shootings.
Details of the Incident at Greater Dominion Church
The church’s bishop, Kenneth Crumb, suggested his congregation was likely spared from a possible mass shooting because of how packed it was Sunday morning, which kept Harris from entering. “Thank God for His grace, for His covering over us, because this could have been a total different way,” Crumb said.
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