Homicide And Gun Crime News 09/03/2023

(September 1) Gunman Foiled In Attempt To Target Ambridge Black Church | Ambridge, PA

In the small Ambridge, Pa., community, a quick-thinking witness and swift police response prevented a potential massacre at Greater Dominion Church on Sunday morning, Aug. 27. Jeffrey Harris, a 38-year-old White man, now faces a litany of charges, including aggravated assault and making terroristic threats, after attempting to enter the predominantly Black church with murderous intent.

The ordeal unfolded just after 9 a.m. on a quiet Sunday morning when multiple concerned citizens called 911 to report a man clad in a camouflage vest brandishing a long gun and menacingly targeting two women outside the church at 4th Street and Melrose Avenue. According to a criminal complaint, the eyewitnesses watched in terror as Harris threatened the women, all while attempting to gain access to the church.

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(September 1) Milwaukee Teen Seriously Injured After Shooting Near Church At 48th And Capitol | Milwaukee, WI

A Milwaukee teen was seriously injured after being shot near 48th and Capitol on Thursday.

Milwaukee police say the 15-year-old boy was shot around 4:30 p.m. amid an argument. It happened near Shiloh Baptist Church.

The teen was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

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(September 1) 2 Charged With Killing Boy, 13, Outside Gary Church On Behalf Of 49th Avenue Boys Gang: Prosecutor | Gary, IN

Two teenagers have been charged with murdering a 13-year-old boy in northwest Indiana on behalf of a gang earlier this year, prosecutors said.

Gary police said 13-year-old Orie Dodson was shot to death outside a church in the 1300 block of Lincoln Street on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

On Thursday, Lake County, Indiana prosecutors announced murder charges against against 17-year-old Dahvee Brunson and Kriston Barbee. They allegedly gunned down Dodson on behalf of the 49th Avenue Boys Gang.

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(August 29) New Details Emerge After Homicide Suspect Leads Police On Chase, Crashes Into Church | Memphis, TN

A man wanted on murder charges was captured after a chase with police that ended near a Hickory Hill school.

Records show Keishun Smith, 21, was wanted by police with first-degree murder, attempted-first degree murder and other charges stemming from an alleged shooting of two people inside an apartment Aug. 27.

Three people and three juveniles were inside an apartment on Tangle Oaks Drive in the Raleigh-LaGrange area when two men, including Smith, entered, court records show.

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(August 25) Armed Man Who Killed Dog At Fort Worth Church Threatened ‘Further Carnage,’ Leader Says | Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth police said Friday they are not classifying the arrest this week of a heavily armed man at a Unitarian Universalist church as a hate crime.

A church official told the Star-Telegram that man found inside All Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist on Wednesday had been attending services for a few months. Earlier that day, the church discovered he had brutally killed his dog on the property

“We believe this was not an attack on the church’s progressive values, but the actions of a lone disturbed individual,” wrote Dan Sexton, board president of All Peoples Church, in an emailed statement.

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