Skip to footer

Alabama church shooting: How a pastor brought down an armed gunman

Alabama church shooting: Earl Carswell, pastor of the Oasis Tabernacle Church in East Selma, Ala., and members of his congregation are being hailed as heroes after wrestling a gun away from a shooter who opened fire during service on Sunday.

|
Alaina Denean Deshazo/The Selma Times-Journal/AP
The Oasis Tabernacle Church is seen in East Selma, Ala., on Sunday. Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson says suspect James Minter has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after allegedly shooting a woman, an infant and a pastor inside the church.

A pastor and members of his congregation in East Selma, Ala., are being praised as heroes by police for subduing a gunman during a church service on Sunday.

James Junior Minter is being held without bond on three counts of attempted murder in the shooting of his girlfriend, his infant son, and the church pastor, Earl Carswell during a church service at Oasis Tabernacle Church, according to Selma police Lt. Curtis Muhannad.

Witnesses told law enforcement that Mr. Minter entered the church and sat in the front row with his girlfriend and the baby before pulling out a handgun and opening fire, according to a statement released by the Selma Police Department. The girlfriend fell to the ground, and Minter fired at her, striking her in the jaw and shoulder. The baby, a 1-month-old boy, was shot in the hand.

Pastor Carswell then grabbed Minter. The pastor was shot in the leg as he intervened and tried to wrestle away Minter's gun, District Attorney Michael Jackson said. Members of the congregation helped subdue Minter and managed to take away his gun, according to police. Minter then ran out of the church.

"A whole lot more people could have been shot," Mr. Jackson said, "They all played a heroic role."

Minter was arrested less than a mile away from the church, shortly after the violence broke out. His vehicle and the weapon were recovered at the church, according to officials.

The pastor was taken to a local emergency room for treatment, while the woman and baby were taken to a hospital in Birmingham. The victims are in stable condition.

Police said Minter was likely upset over a recent breakup and visitation issues with his son.

Minter had an arrest record but details on his past encounters with law enforcement weren't immediately available, according to Lieutenant Muhannad. Authorities are also investigating whether Minter violated a protective order.

The pastor in Sunday's shooting is white and the alleged gunman, James Minter, his girlfriend and the infant are black, Jackson said. The shooting was not believed to be racially motivated.

"This was a domestic violence situation," Jackson said. "It's just a sad situation when people have to be on guard in their church."

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Alabama church shooting: How a pastor brought down an armed gunman
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0921/Alabama-church-shooting-How-a-pastor-brought-down-an-armed-gunman
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe