Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplains are responding after two deadly shootings over the weekend. The attack in Georgia killed four people, while the other took a police officer’s life in North Dakota.
On Saturday morning, a 40-year-old gunman in Hampton, Georgia, killed four of his neighbors—all in their mid-60’s. He was killed later that day in a police standoff that left three officers injured.
“Our hearts break for those who have lost loved ones and friends in this mass shooting,” said Richard Brown, senior manager of deployment and operations for the BG-RRT.
Four chaplains attended a community vigil on Monday night in the small suburb south of Atlanta, offering emotional and spiritual support in this shaken community.
“We are sending our crisis-trained chaplains to listen, comfort, pray with, and share God’s love with those who have been impacted by this unspeakable tragedy,” Brown said.
On Friday afternoon in Fargo, North Dakota, a gunman opened fire as police and firefighters were responding to a routine traffic accident.
Jake Wallin, a 23-year-old police officer still in training, was shot and killed, and two other officers were critically injured. A 25-year-old woman was also shot and seriously wounded.
“We simply can’t begin to imagine what their families, the police department and the community are going through right now,” said Eric Hubbard, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Ministry of the BG-RRT.
“Police officers put their lives on the line every single day to keep our families safe,” Hubbard said. “Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with Officer Jake Wallin’s family, the officers, and young woman who were injured.”
Four chaplains with special training to minister to the law enforcement community are in Fargo to offer support to the police department there.
Please pray for those whose loved ones have been killed or injured in these devastating events, for local law enforcement, and for the chaplains ministering in Georgia and North Dakota.
