Would-Be Church Gunman Surrenders Weapon, Gives Life to Christ

A pastor in Fayetteville, North Carolina, says an armed man who walked into his church ended up handing over his rifle before giving his life to Christ.

The Fayetteville Observer reports the man, a veteran, went into Heal the Land Outreach Ministries during a New Year's service, where Pastor Larry Wright was delivering a sermon to about 60 people.

Pastor Wright, a veteran himself, asked the unidentified man if he needed help, and the would-be gunman dissolved into tears. Wright then took the rifle from the gunman and prayed with him before inviting him to take a seat in the front row.

"I finished the message, I did the altar call and he stood right up, came up to the altar, and gave his life to Christ," Wright told CNN. "I came down and prayed with him and we embraced. It was like a father embracing a son."

"It's so hard to describe, to explain the excitement and love of God in the room," he recalled. "This man came in to do harm and he has given his life to Christ."

Church members, who ironically had been discussing gun violence before the gunman's arrival, were still shaken by the incident.

"It didn't seem real because it was like the scripture that our pastor was reading, it was like it came off the page," Allison Woods, a church member, told CNN.

"It's the next day, when you think of all that could have happened, what could have gone wrong, it sinks in how terrible it could have gone wrong," she said.

Police said they were planning to take the man to a mental health facility.