"The Ford moves in mysterious ways"

 

That was the observation of a commenter at Zero Hedge, playing on the Biblical phrase "The Lord moves in mysterious ways", following the news that a deacon had run over a wannabe church shooter with his Ford F-150 pickup.  A volunteer security guard then emptied his handgun into the shooter, killing him.  Station WXYZ Detroit reports:

Deacon Richard Pryor is the first one who came into contact with the shooter, hitting the shooter with his truck.

Pryor opened up for the first time about making the split-second decision to run over the gunman with his pickup truck.

“Soon as he got out, I saw the fatigues and gun on his hip. He pulled his weapon out of the vehicle," Pryor said.

But, he said his first memory of an attempted mass shooting on Sunday is of an eerie conversation he had with the shooter before the gunman started firing.

“I verbally pulled up and said, 'Are you OK?' He doesn’t respond. Just kind of looked at me," Pryor said.

Seconds later, with no prior police or military training, Pryor said he felt a calling to jump into action. He hit the gas and ran over the shooter, who would eventually fire numerous rounds on Sunday.

“Do you recall feeling, if you didn’t intervene, people would die?" I asked.

"I knew but I didn’t know," he said.

That action temporarily stopped the shooter, who responded by shooting into Pryor's truck. Moments later, the shooter was killed by a security guard.

“I’ve realized how much damage he came to do. Especially after the fact. Generations of families were in this church," Pryor said.

Although another guard was wounded, Pryor said he's thankful more people weren't hurt, or worse yet, killed.

“I’m not a hero. That’s the security staff, Jay, John and others that eliminated this man," Pryor said.

As a result of the violent scene, Pryor's truck was destroyed, a vehicle he used to deliver bread for a day job. Thankfully, a GoFundMe has surpassed $25,000 to help him get a replacement.

There's more at the link, including video interviews with Pryor and other security personnel and witnesses to the shooting.  They make interesting viewing.

One can only thank God that the church was alert to the possibility of trouble from whatever source, and had instituted an armed and trained security team to deal with such problems when they arose.  Many churches have still not done so, and remain at high risk.

I'm pleased to add that the fund-raiser has so far raised more than $47,000 to buy Mr. Pryor a new truck.  Heck, after valuable publicity like that - a Ford truck stopped a mass killing - I'm surprised Ford hasn't offered him a new truck free of charge!

Well done, that man.

Peter