(ProsperNews.net) – An Arizona preacher is in critical condition after he was shot in the head during a sermon in Glendale. Hans Schmidt was standing on a street corner with a megaphone preaching scripture when a passerby reportedly pulled a gun and shot the 26-year-old. He was taken to a local hospital and remains in a life-threatening condition.
Police have not arrested anyone for the crime and do not know who was responsible. Local residents, however, say many people were unhappy at Mr. Schmidt’s roadside sermons. Paul Sanchez, who works nearby, said people regularly shouted at the preacher to “get off the street” and hurled “hateful comments at him.” Another resident said the corner is often the site of busy traffic. “I always thought they might get hit by a car. I didn’t know they would be shot,” said local retailer Jesse James.
Officer Gina Winn, the public information officer for Glendale police, appealed to the public for help in apprehending the shooter. “This is a horrible, horrible offense,” she said before describing Mr. Schmidt as a husband and father of two young children. Officer Winn emphasized that the area is usually busy, and there were likely many witnesses, and she appealed for them to come forward. “We believe there is somebody within the Valley that does know something,” she said.
Mr. Schmidt is the outreach director at the Victory Chapel in Glendale and a US Army veteran. Witnesses did not initially realize that he had been shot in the head, and the first call to police merely mentioned an assault; the bullet to the left temple was not discovered until Schmidt reached the hospital.
His father, Eric, posted on Facebook that “The bullet traveled through his brain and is still inside on the right side of his head. No one heard the shot or saw where it came from.” Days later, a Facebook update stated that the family was encouraged by the preacher’s progress.
Copyright 2023, ProsperNews.net
