Tuesday, February 16, 2010

GUNMAN SHOOTS IN CHURCH WHILE CHOIR SINGS: RAW VIDEO!

Richmond mother Roslyn Johnson simply shook her head Tuesday; she cannot understand why an armed gunman would violently interrupt a peaceful Valentine’s Day afternoon at her local church with family.

Johnson’s two sons – 14-year-old DeAndre Johnson and 19-year-old Darvone Crenshaw – were wounded in a hail of bullets in a brazen shooting during the service. Both were recovering with DeAndre wearing a large bandage on his back where a bullet ripped through his body.

“I thought it would never be one of my kids, especially in my church,” Roslyn Johnson said. “Inside of the house of the Lord -- it’s just unbelievable. I’m still trying to come to the reality of it. My head is spinning. I’m stressed out.”

Johnson said she knew of no reason why her sons were shot.

Meanwhile, police said they have identified the three suspects -- all Richmond residents in their late teens or early 20s. An intense search was underway for all three.


A chilling video has been given to KTVU that was shot by a church member who was taping the choir at the time of the attack.

The video shows the congregation, including a man with a young child in his lap, clapping their hands as the choir sings. Suddenly, there is gunfire.

"You just see a bunch of people... when they started running in, all I could do is tell the choir get down!” said choir member Pam Odom. “And we all fell to the floor. And that was it, it happened so fast."

Evidence of the shooting remained inside the church on Monday as the outrage within the community continued to mount.

"We have reached a new low in the city of Richmond," said Rev. Andre Shumake, a local anti-violence advocate."Until we start addressing the issues of these young people's pain, we're going to see more of this happening."

The drama began Sunday when three male suspects entered the New Gethsemane Church of God In Christ at about 12:30 p.m. where about 100 people were inside attending the service.

Witnesses have told police the three young men strolled down the aisles apparently searching for their victims has the services continued undisturbed.

One of the suspects then began shooting at several members of the congregation, according to Richmond police Sgt. Bisa French.

French said the teens struck by gunfire were believed to have been targeted, but the shooting does not appear to be gang- or drug-related.

There have been seven homicides in Richmond so far this year. Just last week a mother of two who was six months pregnant was killed as she sat in a car in front of her father’s home. The fatal shooting came on her son’s birthday.

1 comment:

  1. In church of all places??! Dumb punk thugs!

    ReplyDelete