A Virginia pastor recalled the chilling moments Sunday when a suspect armed with a loaded gun and knives entered his church during worship.
Barry White, founder and pastor of Park Valley Church, in the northern town of Haymarket, told NBC News that the 10 a.m. service had just begun and music was playing when the suspect entered the building.
White, who was backstage preparing for the service, said a member of the church’s safety team told him they had noticed a man arriving through a north entrance, dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses while indoors.
“It was raining and there was no need — no one was wearing sunglasses, let alone in the building. So that member right away said, ‘Hey, this doesn’t look right to me,’” White said.
“So we shadowed him throughout the entire time that he was in the building.”
At some point, he left the auditorium and the safety team confronted him in the lobby, White said.
“As soon as that happened was when Prince William County Police came in,” White said.
The Prince William Police Department arrested suspect Rui Jiang, 35, of Falls Church, Virginia. The suspect was found to be carrying a loaded handgun, along with an additional magazine, a folding knife and a folding “credit card” style knife, police said.
According to a police press release, an off-duty, uniformed officer, who was working a detail assignment at the church, and church staff coordinated to detain the suspect “without incident.”
Meanwhile, worship continued. “It wasn’t until the end, after all services were over, that I really started to get informed and briefed on how dangerous the situation was,” said White, who called the incident a “sobering” moment.
Prince William Police said in a news release that they acted on an out-of-state tip, after authorities in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, received a report from a nearby resident who noticed “suspicious and concerning” Instagram posts from the suspect.
After locating Jiang’s potential address in Falls Church, police from Fairfax County dispatched officers to the home but didn’t find him there, according to the release. After obtaining additional information, Prince William County police were alerted and sent to the scene.
“[Officers] found a kill manifesto, the likes of which I’ve never read,” Chief Kevin Davis of the Fairfax County Police Department told NBC Washington. “But he also articulated that he didn’t know anyone at that church … He knew he was going to take many lives yesterday and he also said, ‘I don’t know any of them.’”
Jiang, who’s being held without bond, faces charges of making threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon to a place of religious worship.
The Prince William County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Jiang, did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Since the incident, White said his church has been overwhelmed with positivity.
“Everybody has been so incredibly courageous and just supported us,” he said.
White also said that he hopes to see the suspect get help, adding that he believes “there’s definitely a mental health crisis.”
“Anybody that’s faced any kind of trauma or any kind of loss, I get it. There’s churches everywhere. It takes a village,” White said. “The bottom line is, we’re here. We’re here to help anybody that’s hurting in any way, shape and form.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
