This happened about 2 miles down the road from where I am sitting!!!
Notice that the gunman was an estranged boyfriend, and notice it happened during a church 'meeting' rather than a regular Sunday service. That seems to lend credence to the argument that things can happen anywhere, anytime even if you think you are going somewhere that is safe.
Notice that the gunman was an estranged boyfriend, and notice it happened during a church 'meeting' rather than a regular Sunday service. That seems to lend credence to the argument that things can happen anywhere, anytime even if you think you are going somewhere that is safe.
Officials: C.P. gunman thwarted by S'ville church group
By Susan Erler
susan.erler@nwi.com, (219) 933-4183 | Friday, July 03, 2009 | (2 comment(s))
A Crown Point man described as being in "terminator mode" carried a handgun into a Schererville church Wednesday looking for his former girlfriend, according to law enforcement officials.
The Lake County prosecutor's office Thursday charged Thomas Clark, 41, with four counts of stalking and one count of resisting law enforcement in connection with the incident.
Schererville police arrested Clark about 10 a.m. Wednesday after he allegedly entered the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, 140 U.S. 30, looking for the woman who was at the church for a meeting, according to documents filed with the prosecutor's office.
Police responding to a 911 call from the church pursued Clark as he drove westbound on U.S. 30 away from the church but Clark didn't stop until he ran into heavy traffic at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Joliet Road and the police squad car blocked his passage.
Officers discovered Clark was wanted on a June warrant for invasion of privacy.
Police recovered a semi-automatic handgun, 152 rounds of ammunition, brass knuckles and a small knife from inside Clark's vehicle, according to the charging documents.
The woman told police she'd been in the church restroom when Clark arrived, and other people in the church yelled for her to stay there.
Witnesses told police they saw Clark enter the church carrying a gun in his waistband.
Clark brushed past them when they attempted to block him from entering the church and getting near the restroom, and he appeared to be in a "terminator mode," the witnesses said.
Clark left when he realized the witnesses were phoning police, they said.
A court order issued in January 2008 in Lake County was intended to protect the woman from Clark after numerous threats against her and her family since the breakup of their relationship, according to charging documents.