GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — Black Hills Redemption, an event inspired by Rockstar Games’ “Red Dead” series, took place over the weekend in Deadwood, South Dakota. This rootin’ tootin’ time transformed Outlaw Square into a campsite for the Van Der Linde gang where thousands of fans attended. This immersive experience follows last year’s wildly successful Tombstone Redemption, which was held in none other than Tombstone, Arizona.

Twenty of the actors for the franchise made an appearance for a panel this year in Lead’s historic opera house and an autograph session above Saloon No. 10 – including Roger Clark, who played Arthur Morgan; Rob Wiethoff, who played John Marston; and even Robert Bogue, who played Red Harlow in the original “Red Dead Revolver” game released in 2004.

The Redemption convention also included acts from hoop dance extraordinaire Starr Chief Eagle, gun spinning from three-time Trick Western Gun handling champion Joey Dillon, historic lectures from UT: Knoxville’s Dr. Tore Olsson and trick-rope and whip cracking from Loop Rawlins, who also appeared as Pedro Pascal’s stunt double in the film “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.”

WesternSlopeNow’s Dalen Brazelton had an opportunity to sit down with Kenney Palkow, promoter and organizer of the event. In an exclusive interview, Palkow told WesternSlopeNow the goal with Black Hills Redemption was to get the younger generation interested in history again.

“The best way to do that is with the best video game on the planet that just so happens to be a western. Using this game (Red Dead Redemption 2) as a medium, we turn an entire city into a place on the map. It gives these kids a playground where they can feel at home, feel comfortable around their own kind,” Palkow explains.

“It was a wonderful experience to be a part of building something and I’m looking forward to doing it every year.”

Where are they planning to go next year? Nothing is confirmed yet, but one possible location is recreating the fictional town of Saint Denis in New Orleans.

For more information on next year’s event, follow the event on Instagram.

The Ohio Bobcats have officially announced the signing of defensive back Michael Mack. The 6’1″ Maryland native will be making his third college stop, this time in the Mid-American Conference. Mack previously was a member of the Wisconsin Badgers and the Air Force Falcons.

He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

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Mack spent 2020-2022 at Air Force, where he appeared in 21 games with 69 tackles and an interception, plus four defended passes and a fumble recovery.

He then transferred to Wisconsin, where he needed a waiver to be eligible for the 2023 season. This is due to a service academy rule that players must transfer within their first two years in order to be immediately eligible. That waiver was denied, leading to Mack not appearing for the the Badgers. Mack entered the portal in late April, 2024.

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Mack joins an Ohio group that was the top scoring defense in the Mid-American conference last season, allowing 15.8 points per game, as the Bobcats secured their second consecutive ten-win season under Tim Alpin.

Ohio will open the 2024 season on August 31 at Syracuse on the ACC Network.

Reverend Larry Oneal Walker spends his Sundays preaching at a busy intersection in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

The street preacher recently spoke out after a gunman opened fire while he was sharing the gospel on June 2. Walker reflected on the moment that could have taken his life. 

Walker told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview that a man aggressively approached him and attempted to grab his microphone. (See the video at the top of this article.)

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When Walker told the man he could not have it, the man said he had a gun.

The two struggled, and the man shot him.

“I fell to the ground, checked my side with a handful of blood. The next thing I did was put my hands on my head and started praying,” Walker said.

Walker said he forgives the man who shot him, citing John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.”

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“As a Christian, we must forgive one another,” said Walker.

“We can’t hold bitterness and anger and strife in our hearts against one another.”

Rev. Larry Oneal Walker has been preaching for over 50 years; he’s been preaching in the streets for the past 15 years. “I see miracles all the time, all the time,” he told Fox News Digital. (LaKiesa Walker)

Walker said the doctors told him the manner in which the bullet entered the side of his body was “a miracle” as it grazed past his vital organs.

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“I see miracles all the time, all the time. That’s why I said, ‘I cannot die. I will not die. I can’t get sick. I will not get sick because the Lord has given me life,’” he said.

LaKeisa Walker, Walker’s daughter, said it was a horrific moment when she answered the phone and learned that her father had been shot.

Larry Oneal Walker was shot on June 2 while preaching at a busy Arkansas intersection.  (LaKiesa Walker)

“We were standing on the scripture that, ‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper,’ so we believed that that was a weapon formed against him, but it did not prosper… God manifested a healing, a miracle through him that day,” she told Fox News Digital.

She said her father’s story touched not just the Arkansas community, but hers in Texas as well.

“They are just like, ‘That was God.’ It strengthened not only my faith, but the whole community,” she said.

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Walker has been preaching for the past 50 years.

He began street preaching 15 years ago.

“This is why our nation has been so strong, because we believe in the Almighty God,” said Walker.

Walker told Fox News Digital that he forgives the man who shot him on June 2, adding, “We can’t hold bitterness and anger and strife in our hearts against one another.” (LaKeisa Walker)

He said America is healing — and that the loss of faith across the country has led to confusion and division.

Between 2007 and 2021, the percentage of adults who identify as not religiously affiliated has grown from 16% to 29%, according to the Pew Research Center.

“America had been wounded with this evil spirit of hate,” said Walker. 

“Well, we’re loving people. America [is] the best, blessed nation on the planet. There is no other nation greater than America.”

Eighty percent of U.S. adults say that religion has lost its influence in society, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February. 

“We need to turn to God.”

LaKeisa Walker said, “We need to turn to God. I think this can be a beginning, a genesis of a movement across the country… Turn to God in such a time as this that our world is heading in right now.”

Walker has not had any contact with the suspect since the incident.

The individual, identified as 20-year-old Latarryes Bush of North Little Rock, is currently being held without bond, pending his initial court appearance in North Little Rock District Court, Fox News Digital learned in a media release shared by the North Little Rock Police Department.