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US: Police thwart “diabolical” mass shooting at Virginia church

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – With just moments to spare, police were able to prevent what they said would have been a “diabolical” mass shooting at Park Valley Church in Haymarket, northern Virginia on Sunday, CBN News reports.

The incident unfolded after a woman in Anne Arundel County, Maryland alerted police that 35-year-old Rui Jiang had posted threatening social media content from the Park Valley church parking lot, CBN reports. “What she saw concerned her enough to call the Anne Arundel Police Department and say, ‘Hey, I think something really bad is going to happen,'” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said in a statement.

Police first went to Jiang’s home, but he was not there, CBN reports. At this point they broadcast an alert, which was heard by an off-duty police officer who works as a security guard at Park Valley church.

The off-duty policeman was able to arrest the suspect Jiang, who was actually in the church vestibule armed with a loaded handgun, an extra magazine and two knives, CBN reports. “This was a thwarted diabolical plot to kill churchgoers in Haymarket, Virginia,” Police Chief Davis stated.”We put our hands on him literally in the nick of time.” Jiang was taken into custody and charged with threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon in a place of worship.

In a statement to CNN, Park Valley Pastor Barry White said: “It was an imminent disaster, you know, that could have happened here, that didn’t. As bad as it was, it was a victory. Somebody saw something, said something. Then you had all these police organizations that worked flawlessly together. I believe God had a hand on us. These kinds of events don’t normally play out this way.”