On Thursday night, a group of black Virginia churchgoers were terrified when a man showed up at their church threatening to kill everyone inside.
According to police Capt. Chris Gleason, a heavyset white male, who has not yet been identified, was taken quickly into custody following a racist rant in which he threatened a massacre and is being held for a mental health evaluation.
“I never thought I’d see the day when police have to be at church,” Gleason said following the arrest.
The threats came just one day after a horrific shooting in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church following a Bible study class on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Virginia congregation had also just finished holding a Bible study class when the man showed up and began to rant.
The man was caught on cell phone camera cursing and banging on the doors of United Nations Church International as people can be heard saying, “Lock all the doors!”
More sound from Bishop Oren Pullings. We're waiting to hear from police. pic.twitter.com/6I9UIDscF5
— Matthew McClellan FOX 13 (@mcclellantv) June 19, 2015
In a rant in which he called churchgoer the N-word, the man said, “I’m gonna kill all you and all you are gonna get killed tonight,” and “You’re taking over.”
Thankfully, the man was not armed, though at the time, churchgoers were concerned because they could see “a big piece of plastic that looked like a weapon.” But the unidentified man was detained before any damage could be done.