Displaying items by tag: shooting

A pastor attending the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade claims the Holy Spirit urged him and his family to leave minutes before a shooting broke out, resulting in one death and 22 injuries. Timmy Hensel, pastor of River Church Family, recounted feeling prompted to depart despite the festive atmosphere. He credits divine intervention for their safety, emphasising the importance of recognising God's guidance. Hensel expresses gratitude for being spared and prays for the victims of the incident. Two men have been charged in connection with the shooting, which erupted from a verbal altercation. The pastor's testimony highlights the role of faith amidst tragedy, underscoring the community's grief and the need for spiritual discernment in challenging times.

As groups of people streamed into London last week to offer tributes and tears to their Queen, another faction with heavy hearts filed through the capital’s congestion. The group of supporters marching with the family of Chris Kaba, who was shot dead by armed police in south London on 5 September, was so large that a Sky News reporter broadcasting live mistook them for royal mourners. An embarrassing - and perhaps telling - mistake from a media so often accused of ignoring or misinterpreting the stories that matter most to black and brown communities. Chris Kaba, 24, who was engaged and due to become a father, was killed by a single shot fired by a Met police officer after a car chase in Streatham. The vehicle he was driving was flagged by a number plate recognition camera linking it to an earlier firearms incident. It has since emerged that the car was not registered to Kaba, but to someone else. In other words, this was a young, unarmed black man killed by someone paid to protect the public. Kaba’s family understandably want answers. In a statement, they said: ‘if Chris had not been black, he would have been arrested and not had his life cut short’. The police officer who shot him has been suspended.

Five people, including a three-year-old girl, were killed during a six-minute shooting spree by gunman Jake Davison on 12 August. Two others were injured during the incident before the 22-year-old turned the gun on himself. Tens of thousands of pounds have been raised online for the victims and their families. Pray for the community to have God’s comfort and peace as they pull together and support each other in these trying times; pray especially for the relatives and friends of the victims. Churches and schools are open, to give people opportunities to open themselves to God and to each other. Davidson’s gun licence was suspended following a criminal charge for assault, but it was returned to him in July. The Government has asked police forces to review procedures for issuing and returning firearms licences, and to check whether it is necessary to revoke any licences already issued.

Philadelphia is critical to next week's presidential election. This week hundreds of protesters have been marching through the city demanding racial justice after police killed Walter Wallace, a black man suffering a mental health crisis. Police shot him because he wouldn't drop a knife. A police spokeswoman said that Wallace advanced towards them and they fired fourteen shots, hitting Mr Wallace in the shoulder and chest. She added, ‘One of the officers drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead’. This statement is contradicted by bystanders and Mr Wallace's family lawyer, who said that the family called for an ambulance because of his bipolar disorder. Mr Wallace’s father said, ‘Why didn't they use a taser?’ The marches began peacefully but became more confrontational as the evening drew on. Protesters are looting and ransacking businesses. The National Guard has been deployed with officers in riot gear.

Wisconsin’s governor called in the National Guard to help quell unrest after police shot unarmed Jacob Blake in the back seven times at close range. The incident was videoed and went viral on the internet sparking nationwide demonstrations and the postponement of major sporting events as players protested against the shooting. Trump’s administration made its sympathies clear: ‘We will always stand with the men and women who serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement.’ Meanwhile Rev Al Sharpton and his National Action Network are leading a march on Washington to demand action on police brutality. He said, ‘That policeman’s life was never under threat, and yet he shot multiple times. That’s why we’re marching.’ Some say, ‘Riots are not saving Black lives, they’re destroying lives, businesses and the social fabric of cities.’ Others reply, ‘There needs to be unrest in the streets as long as there’s unrest in our lives’. See

Dr Martin Luther King Jr said we must live together as brothers or perish together as fools. His niece Dr Alveda King said, ‘We're fighting over trying to reconcile separate races when we are only one race - the human race.’ Bishop Harry Jackson said, ‘We're seeing a readiness to respond to race across racial boundaries. But what's missing is in Galatians 3:26; we say there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free. These distinctions can be solved by coming together in Christ.’ We can pray for Christians to lead the way with answers to the ills of society. We have the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide us. The church must find answers and right any wrongs that exist and then boldly become part of the national discussion on race relations in America. Bishop Williams added, ‘When someone needs blood, they don’t ask if it was black blood, white blood or Jewish blood; they need blood.’

The latest atrocity is believed to be in retaliation to an incident when villagers fought off a Boko Haram attack two weeks ago.

The attack on civilians is the deadliest in the region so far this year.

Eleven other people were wounded during the midday attack in Budu near Maiduguri on Saturday, according to Muhammad Bulama, council chairman of the Nganzai local government area.

Bunu Bukar, secretary of self-defence group Borno Hunters Association, said the extremists were on motorbikes and opened fire on villagers.

He added that his colleagues had recovered nearly two dozen bodies.

Mr Bulama said the atrocity was in retaliation to an incident when villagers fought off a Boko Haram attack in the area two weeks ago.

Last week Nigerians marked the 10th anniversary of the Boko Haram insurgency which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises.

The extremists have carried out mass abductions of schoolgirls and deployed young women and men in suicide vests to attack markets, mosques and other highly populated areas.

Their aim is to impose strict Islamic rule in the region.

Boko Haram have broadened their attacks and carried out atrocities in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Reporting by Sky News

More at: https://news.sky.com/story/more-than-60-dead-as-boko-haram-extremists-target-funeral-in-nigeria-11772643

Pray: For the military and intelligence services to root out and bring these militants to justice.

Pray: For the victims and their families – for healing and comfort in their grief.

Pray: For an end to this ongoing campaign by Boko Haram.

THEY REFUSED TO DENOUNCE JESUS — PASTOR, 5 OTHERS SHOT AFTER CHURCH SERVICE IN BURKINA FASO

Last Sunday seemed like any Sunday for 80-year-old Pastor Pierre OuIt, who has spent 40 years serving his church and Sirgadji village community in the northeastern Soum province of Burkina Faso. On April 28, he gathered for worship with his congregation in the West African country. And like every Sunday, he preached the Word of God with the wisdom that seasoned years of life and ministry bring.

But shortly after the service, an ordinary Sunday suddenly turned deadly and a church building where worshippers had just gathered became a crime scene.

KILLED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS

At about 1 pm, while Pastor Pierre was still talking with several congregants in the churchyard, a dozen men on motorbikes stormed the area.

A local leader who wished to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor: “The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused.”

Reportedly, the attackers gathered Pastor Pierre and the five other congregants under a tree and then confiscated their Bibles and cell phones.

“Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead,” the leader said.

In addition to Pastor Pierre, the attackers killed his son, Wend-Kuni, and his brother-in-law (a church deacon), Zoéyandé Sawadogo, as well as believers Sayouba and Arouna Sawadogo, and a primary school teacher, Elie Boena. Another was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

The men then set the church building and two motorbikes on fire. Before they left, they stole sheep and a bag of rice from Pastor Pierre’s home.

He and his five congregants were buried the same day in a ceremony that drew people from both Christian and Muslim communities. The pastor leaves behind his wife and six other children.

Other locals reported that the next day, the same attackers (some of them known to village residents as “young men who’ve been radicalized”) came back into the village “searching for Christians.”

The sources say the armed groups can move with impunity because of the lack of law enforcement in the area in the West African country.

“I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN LEAVE”

Previously, Pastor Pierre told relatives about his concerns over the deterioration of security in the region, though there had been no incidents in his village.

The community leader said that when he and others advised the pastor to leave the area, he refused, saying he “would rather die for his faith than leave the community he has been serving for 40 years.”

In the last few months, more than 100 Christians have fled the area, moving farther south, more than 46 miles away. In February, armed men believed to be Islamist militants killed a church leader in the southeast region of Nohao, as he was returning from Togo.

Last Sunday’s violence in Burkina Faso that took the life of Pastor Pierre and his five congregants appears to have been the first attack, specifically on a church building, in which believers in Burkina Faso have been killed by Islamist extremists.

Pray: for the families of the martyrs, that they will have the grace to forgive the attackers.

Pray: for protection of Christians facing persecution daily, around the world.

Pray: for the attackers to be brought to justice.

More: https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/they-refused-to-denounce-jesus-pastor-5-others-shot-after-church-service-in-burkina-faso/?fbclid=IwAR2Ctw3mtgUNCmr8dSba8rZsqZP3N1CinNyRHQOtQ77bYGo2texbTCnK5Cc

May 7, 2019 by Lindy Lowry

Twelve people, including a police officer, were killed on 7 November at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. When the shooting began at 23:20 local time, at least 200 people were enjoying a country music night at the Borderline Bar and Grill. David Long, an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD, entered the bar and opened fire. He may have also used smoke grenades. People reportedly escaped by using chairs to break windows, while others sheltered inside the toilets. The local sheriff described the scene inside the bar as ‘horrific’ and said there was ‘blood everywhere’. Long ended the bloodbath by turning his gun on himself. His motive for the attack is currently unknown.

Two children and eight adults received ‘pellet-type wounds’ at a Moss Side street party at its Caribbean carnival. Moss Side has done much work in recent years to remove its reputation of drugs, gangs and violence. Former police officer Martin Harding, who now works with local schools, said that the number of shootings has significantly fallen in recent years as the area re-invented its image. The carnival was a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Windrush arrival. The shootings shocked the local community. The rector of St James’s Church said that they were praying that this kind of violence doesn't develop. In a message to the families of those hurt, he added, ‘We love you. We'll be praying for you. We hope your loved ones will be recovering fast. If anybody needs to talk about this, then our door is always open.’ See also