Man Arrested After Arriving With Multiple Guns at Large Baptist Church in Memphis
Memphis’s News Channel 3 reports that “a man is undergoing a mental evaluation after being taken into custody at Bellevue Baptist Church Easter morning.”
According to the report, police said church security spotted the armed man and took him into custody without incident, and the man, Marcus Donald, 31, was carrying a “40 caliber Beretta in a pants pocket” and “a 300 Blackout rifle in his backpack.”
Donald reportedly told police that there are people out there who are a threat to him and he has to be vigilant.
Channel 3 added that he apparently made no threats toward the church or its congregation.
“We are thankful for the diligence of (our) security and the Memphis Police Department,” Jim Barnwell, Bellevue Baptist Church, Director of Communication Services, told Fox 13. He said that about 4,500 people were at the church when Donald showed up.
The church is one of the largest in America, with a membership in the tens of thousands. It sent this Tweet out after the incident:
Today an armed man came to Bellevue's property. Memphis Police arrested the suspect. Nobody was injured. Praise the Lord for His protection!
— Bellevue Baptist Church (@bellevuememphis) March 27, 2016