Grieving church members, gripped with disbelief and shock, gathered at their Hadfield Street, Lodge church compound yesterday consoling each other over the news that their pastor had been cold-bloodedly murdered.
According to reports, on Sunday around 23:15 hrs, the 41-year-old pastor, Eion David of Kitty, was shot twice after a lone gunman entered the Prophecy One Delivery Ministry Church at Hadfield Street Lodge, held three members of the congregation at gunpoint and robbed them.
The pastor reportedly died a few hours after the incident while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital. According to a police press release, David sustained a gunshot wound to the head and another to the chest. The police have recovered two .32 spent bullets from the scene.
David’s daughter, Shaundell Williams, recalled the 15-minute ordeal during which her father was killed. She said the church had earlier closed off a three-night crusade and she, her husband, her father and a few church members were counting the offering collected when the gunman attacked.
According to Williams, when the man entered the church with his face covered with a handkerchief and wearing a cap, and ordered everyone to lie on the floor, she thought it was a church member pulling a prank. “I never in my wildest dreams thought someone would come into a church and carry out a robbery. It was not until he ordered everyone on the floor the second time that I knew it was serious; and he pulled out a gun,” Williams said.
The distraught woman said that as they all lay on the ground, the gunman asked her husband, Alwin Williams, if there was anyone else in the building and he responded in the negative. The woman recalled that throughout the ordeal everyone remained calm and did what they were told. “After the man started to run through everyone’s belongings, my husband started to speak in tongues and the bandit gun-butted him.”
Williams said she could hear the gunman emptying people’s bags and immediately turning off their cell phones and taking them. Having collected all the valuables, Williams said, the man then went over to where the pastor and his fianc
