Cleveland congregation silent after a shooting, stabbing at their church, police say

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Cleveland police have more questions than answers following a stabbing and shooting at a church Sunday.

Police said Sunday morning they received a shotspotter notification for four rounds shot at Sanctuary Baptist Church, located at 4004 E. 131st Street.

When they arrived, police said they saw no one flagging them down or running, but around 11:55 p.m. they received a call for a man with a gunshot wound at the church.

Police arrived at the church and a bystander pointed out a man down the street on Crennell Avenue, saying the man was shot.

The man waved police down and told them while first responders gave him medical treatment that he was shot at the church. The victim had three gunshot wounds.

The victim told police he goes there often and another man was mad he was in his seat.

He said the man tried to force him out of the seat and then shot him.

Another church member told police that the shooting victim stabbed another member of the church, which the shooting victim confirmed, but said he did to protect himself.

Police searched the area for the man that was stabbed, but were told by others on scene that he went to the hospital.

According to Cleveland police, they asked 30-40 people in the parking lot if they had witnessed these incidents, but most of the congregation refused to give any information.

After half an hour, police said an usher told them he was assaulted by the man that was shot.

The usher told police that he saw the victim come in intoxicated and sit between two girls.

He said he asked the shooting victim to move to a different seat, which he did, but sat on the usher’s hat.

The usher told police he and another member then asked the shooting victim to leave and started to escort him out the back door.

When they got to the back door, the usher told police the shooting victim punched him in the face. When the other members said the man had a knife, they were able to get him out the door.

Police reported finding three shell casing in the back parking lot of the church.

According to police, one of the church pastors told police that the cameras in the building did not work, but later three other pastors told police they did work.

Officers said the video did not shot the confrontation, and the camera facing the backdoor was offline.

This is an ongoing investigation. Return to 19 News for updates.

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