As members of the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, continue to reel from the deadly attack on their church by ex-member Emanuel Kidega Samson, 25, on Sunday, the church’s pastor said at a press conference Tuesday that a humble member, Robert Caleb Engle, 22, likely prevented many deaths.
“I think he saved every one of our lives. He (Samson) was reloading. He’s gonna kill everybody there, I think. And I think Caleb saved us. And we’re very fortunate he was there that day,” Pastor Joey Spann said.
When asked if he saw Samson reloading, Spann shook his head to indicate “no” but said he may have heard it on news reports or someone may have told him.
Police say Samson, an amateur bodybuilder who worked as a security guard, arrived at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ at 10:55 a.m. Sunday in a blue SUV wearing a neoprene half face mask, according to News Channel 5.
Armed with a handgun, he then “fired upon the church building” with his vehicle still running in the parking lot where he shot church member Melanie Crow Smith, 39, and left her for dead. He then went on to shoot several other people inside the church building, including Spann and Engle.
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