Tennessee pastor successfully tackles gunman in church service, no shots fired

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A video has gone viral showing a pastor in Nashville, Tennessee protecting his congregants by swiftly tackling and disarming a man who suddenly got up and began to brandish a gun during a church service, Yahoo News reports. Hailed as a “hero” for his actions, Pastor Ezekiel Ndikumana said the lives of his congregants at Nashville Light Mission Pentecostal Church had been in God’s hands, not his.

The video footage, taken from above the pulpit facing the congregation, shows 26-year-old Dezire Baganda getting up from his side seat at the front of the church, walking up to the podium, and brandishing a large handgun from the pulpit. The incident happened just after an altar call when the pastor had stepped away from the pulpit.

Seconds later, Pastor Ndikumana is seen to swiftly approach Baganda from behind, jumping on him and tackling him to the ground, where congregants held him down until the police arrived. No shots were fired and no one was injured, Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement.

Baganda was not a member of the church but had previously been removed from services for disruption. Baganda has been jailed in Davidson County on a bond worth USD $375,000, with the amount expected to increase, Yahoo News said. He is facing 57 charges of felony and aggravated assault.

In a statement, Pastor Ndikumana said “I am very happy that I got to him first before he was able to shoot and hurt any of my members because they are my family. God wanted to show that He is a powerful God, their lives were in His hands not mine.”

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