Man who pulled gun on pastor in church is charged with criminal homicide after cousin’s body found in home
The man who pulled a gun on a Pittsburgh pastor is now the suspect in his cousin’s death, according to Allegheny County Police.
Police located the body of Derek Polite – Bernard Junior Polite's cousin – on Sunday after the incident at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock.
“We believe that the shooting death of Derek Polite occurred around 10am, before the incident later on that afternoon at the church,” Allegheny Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said, according to WTAE.
Bernard has been charged with criminal homicide for his cousin’s murder.
Mr Kearns said it appears that Derek was killed by a single gunshot he sustained while he was moving between floors.
“It appears the victim was shot while walking up the stairs from the first floor to the second floor,” he said.
Police have not released a motive for the shooting at this time.
The decision to check Bernard’s home came after the 26-year-old was caught on livestream waving a gun around at a church and threatening to shoot pastor Glenn Germany.
Mr Germany told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that he spoke to Bernard after the incident and noted the man said he was listening to “thoughts” in his head.
“I said, ‘What made you do it?’ I mean, ‘What were you thinking?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, it was just a thought in my mind, thoughts coming to your head you just do what the thoughts say,’” Mr Germany said.
He later reportedly told Pennsylvania State Troopers that “God” had told him to shoot the pastor, ABC News reported.
The gun Bernard pulled at the church has been confirmed by police to be the same gun used to kill Derek.
Mr Germany said Bernard attempted to shoot him as well, but his gun jammed.
“He pulled the trigger and a miracle of God happened that the gun got jammed. That bullet had a name on it,” Mr Germany told ABC’s Good Morning America.
Bernard was taken into custody after churchgoers wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him.
The pastor said that he had noticed the suspect enter the church and had even smiled at him before pulling out the gun.
“I started to begin to preach and all of a sudden, from my left-hand side, I saw him move from the back to the front of the church, and he set up in the front corner of the church and smiled at me,” Mr Germany told Action 4 News.
“All of a sudden, I just saw a gun pointing right at me. And at that point, all I could try to do is try to run for cover.”
When the gun failed, churchgoers held the man down until police arrived.
Court records seen by The Independent show the suspect has been charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and attempted homicide.
