North Carolina pastor confronts man with rifle

Wright, who has been leading Heal the Land Outreach Ministries in Fayetteville for 16 years, said that the man had a gun in one hand and an ammo magazine with shiny rounds in the other.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WRAL)- It was a frightening sight for many when a man carrying a rifle walked through the doors of a Fayetteville church during a service on New Year’s Eve, but congregants describe what happened next as a holiday miracle.

Wright, who is 57, 6ft 2in and 240 pounds, said to him: ‘Can I help you?’

After calming him down, he took away his weapon and prayed for the man before police officers arrived, the reported. One by one, the deacon and three other church members hugged the man to make him feel loved. “I asked him, ‘Can I help you, sir?’ And when he said, ‘Can you pray for me?’ after that I was all right”.

The man then began crying and was escorted to a front pew.

Wright said he took the man’s rifle and handed it to a deacon. “This man came in to do harm and he has given his life to Christ”, Wright said. “I’m not scared of him, not now”, said church member Lucrecia Hall.

The man, who has not yet been identified, walked toward the front of the room, pointing his rifle toward the ceiling.

Sunday was absolutely a day of celebration at Heal The Land Outreach Ministries – just days after the pastor of the church managed to defuse a situation involving a gunman at the church. “‘I came down and prayed with him and we embraced, it was like a father embracing a son'”. According to reports, Wright was speaking about the “senseless deaths” in Fayetteville as the man entered.

Police were called but were instructed to wait outside so as not to disrupt the rest of the service as the man did not appear to be a threat, Wright told the Observer. He said he was recently released from prison, a veteran and asked for prayers.

Often when someone comes into a church with a gun, past tragedies come to mind.

McLaurin later told CNN that he didn’t know where the man is now, nor did he know whether he would be charged.

“I think that night the spirit of God was definitely in the place”, Loving told the Observer.